MTN Nigeria has commenced partnership with global social networking giant, Facebook to deliver digital marketing training to SMEs under MTN’s first accelerator programme, Y’ello 200. The accelerator programme is a culmination of The Revv Programme, an initiative by MTN launched in August last year, to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Using a four-pronged approach that includes masterclasses, access to market, productivity tools support and advisory initiatives, The Revv Programme seeks to help SMEs relearn, rethink and retool their businesses for growth in the emerging digital economy. MTN executives along with industry experts delivered the masterclasses, focusing on various areas of business management. Following five months of intensive training delivered to over 24,000 registered SMEs, 200 SMEs were selected for the Y’ello 200 Accelerator Programme. The 200 top-performing SMEs from the sessions will enjoy exclusive access to a broad range of technology and productivity tools and services free for a period of six months.

The digital marketing training by Facebook is the initial phase of the accelerator programme and will run for six weeks. The virtual training sessions kicked off on Thursday, January 21, 2020 with a session titled “Get Creative with Your Mobile Phone”. Subsequent sessions will train the SME owners on creative ways to scale their businesses and attract customers using social media.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Revv masterclasses, Modupe Kadri, Chief Financial Officer, MTN Nigeria, outlined some of the benefits of the Y’ello 200 Accelerator Programme. “The masterclasses are just the first phase. In the next phase, our goal is to ensure digital inclusion for all the businesses that are part of the Y’ello 200. This entails making sure that these businesses are present and active on all the relevant digital platforms, making them visible and digitally accessible.”

“We will handhold each of them through the process and provide all the services required to be fully digitally included. This covers communication services such as voice and data, cloud services and virtual machines to enable round the clock availability of all their services. Digital marketing platforms offered by MTN will be accessible to them to increase their access to new markets,” he concluded.