The MTN SA Foundation will select 10 black women-owned ICT and digital businesses for the fifth edition of its Women in Digital Business Challenge, with each receiving an investment package worth R100 000 in grant funding and business-development support. The foundation is committing R1-million to the cohort in total.
The programme launches in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, on Monday, 14 September 2026.
Participants start with a business needs analysis to identify where support will have the most effect. From there they receive business and skills development, mentorship and market-access opportunities, aimed at strengthening operations and creating employment.
The challenge is run with the EBL Institute of Business and Technology, the Datacomb Development Hub and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).
Since 2022, it has backed 40 women-owned businesses across South Africa through its two implementation streams. Those businesses report creating or sustaining 173 jobs, 98 of them held by women, and generating more than R14.7-million in revenue. They also report gains in customer acquisition, operational efficiency, market access and partnerships.
One is Charged Up Group, founded by Ntsako Mahlaule and supported through the 2024 edition. The company says that since taking part it has won bulk orders and contracts, widened its customer base, taken on another staff member and moved to significantly larger premises. It has also secured a partnership with Forbes Africa.
Support, networks, opportunities
Arthur Mukhuvha, GM of the MTN Foundation at MTN South Africa, said women-owned businesses have an important role to play in the country’s economic development.
“Entrepreneurship remains one of the most powerful drivers of innovation, job creation and economic inclusion. Through the Women in Digital Business Challenge, we are helping women-owned ICT businesses access the support, networks and opportunities needed to grow sustainably and realise their full potential,” he said.
MTN Group was launched in 1994 and is listed on the JSE under the share code MTN. Its Ambition 2030 strategy is aimed at building platforms for consumers, homes and businesses across Africa. Learn more at mtn.co.za.
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