Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Capital Development: A Study of MTN Nigeria’s Initiatives

This paper addresses a critical gap in scholarship by examining the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of MTN Nigeria’s initiatives and its impact on human capital development. Many Nigerians are currently experiencing poverty and underdevelopment, with scanty response from many companies that are expected to intervene in societal imperatives. CSR initiatives involve mitigating environmental degradation, conserving natural resources, promoting renewable energy and sustainable practices geared towards human capital development. CSR initiatives play a significant role in addressing the social, educational, and environmental challenges currently faced in Nigeria. Engaging a mixed method of quantitative survey of one hundred and twenty respondents and qualitative content analysis of MTN Nigeria’s initiatives policy documents on CSR and human capital development, the study used frequency count analysis for quantitative data and thematic analysis for qualitative data, respectively. Results show that the impact of MTN Nigeria’s contributions on human capital development is relatively strong, given the organization’s profitability level, but it should be further strengthened as a model for other corporate bodies to emulate. The paper concludes that lack of adequate awareness, low stakeholder engagement, and lack of statutory enforcement of CSR disrupt its optimal impact on the Nigerian society and therefore, recommends development education and advocacy, predicated on implementable public policy on ‘people, planet, and profit’ to foster sustainable human capital development in Nigeria