Johannesburg 7 July 2023, TechnoGirl Trust (TGT) announces that CM.com and Happy Horizon have selected two beneficiaries from the TGT programme to complete an internship programme at the head offices of CM.com in Breda, the Netherlands.

It is the third time that beneficiaries from the TGT programme have been selected to go to the Netherlands since 2018.

The internships stem from a partnership in 2018 between CM.com and TGT, shortly following a fundraising event hosted by UNICEF in the Netherlands, where the UN body presented TGT as one of the programmes. CM.com identified the programme’s merit and offered its network and knowledge to support the TechnoGirl Trust initiative through an internship programme.

The internship programme represents an innovative solution for youth development, reflecting both party’s shared focus on prosperity creation for young women in Africa for generations to come through gender equality, equity, and women’s economic empowerment.

“This will lead to improved access to sustainable employment opportunities and, in so doing, breaking the cycle of poverty for those girls participating in the programme,” says Sithole. “Our model is analogous to a recipe: ‘We give the ingredients, and you need to bake a cake’. The types of graduates emerging from this programme are young women who have developed the advanced personality of the independent thinker and are equipped to become an employee of choice, as well as to ‘give back’ to their respective communities.”

Jeroen van Glabbeek, CEO at CM.com says: “The aim of our holistic internship programme is to establish a sustainable talent pipeline of women that fosters economic growth by prioritising inclusivity, empowerment, and equal opportunity employment. It aims to address shortages of careers which are in high demand among growing African economies, and where women are traditionally under-represented. Through partnerships such as with TGT, our goal is to create economic opportunities for young women.”

Sithole, from TGT, adds: 'Our goals are fully aligned with those of CM.com in ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity to learn, work and participate in the future digital world. Collaboration is key to fulfilling this goal. The model that we have developed at TGT is one of spreading the transformation burden with corporates such as CM.com, partnering with them to develop girls so they become better equipped for entry into STEM careers.” 

ABOUT TECHNOGIRL TRUST

TechnoGirl Programme is a mentorship and job shadowing initiative that aims to strengthen girls' learning and entry into STEM careers. The programme was conceptualised in 2004 by founding partner Uweso Consulting in collaboration with UNICEF South Africa and the Department of Basic Education. In 2019, TechnoGirl programme was identified as one of the top three solutions to co-create innovations through partnerships and mentoring for empowering young people as leaders of change. This recognition led to a partnership between UNICEF and PwC at a global level which ultimately led to the collaboration between UNICEF South Africa and PwC South Africa.

ABOUT CM.COM

CM.com is a listed company (Euronext Amsterdam: CMCOM), specializing in Conversational Commerce, connecting enterprises and brands to billions of consumers worldwide on their mobile phones. With CM.com, businesses can easily engage with their customers using various messaging and voice channels, including SMS, Over The Top (OTT) platforms like WhatsApp Business, Apple Business Chat, Google RCS, Facebook Messenger, and Viber, as well as Voice API and SIP.

In addition to messaging capabilities, CM.com offers a range of cloud platform features, such as Ticketing, eSignature, Customer Contact, identity services, and a Customer Data Platform. As a licensed Payment Service Provider (PSP) in Europe, CM.com enables secure card payments, domestic payment methods, and integrated payment solutions like WeChat Pay. With a global presence spanning 21 countries and a workforce of approximately 1000 employees, CM.com ensures scalability, swift time-to-market, and reliable global redundancy and delivery.

For more information contact:
Lunice Johnston Communications
Lunice Johnston
Mobile: +27 82 824 6384
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