MTN Rwanda made a high-profile return to the golf course over the weekend, bringing together 202 golfers, customers, business leaders, and partners for the MTN Y’ello Tee-off Golf Tournament at Kigali Golf Resort and Villas.

Held on 3 October, the tournament combined sport, networking, and relationship-building, while showcasing MTN’s expanding focus on connecting homes, businesses, and communities.

More than a sporting competition, the tournament provided a relaxed platform for the telecom giant to reconnect with customers and stakeholders, strengthen business relationships, and showcase its evolving connectivity solutions, including UrugoNet home internet.

"Sports is a big thing. It connects people. It touches the emotions,” Didas Ndoli, General Manager for Enterprise Business at MTN Rwanda, said, explaining why sport remains an important part of MTN’s engagement with Rwandans.

"At MTN, we connect people beyond just the network and data. Our goal is to create meaningful connections among people, businesses and communities,” Ndoli added.

The tournament came nearly eight years after MTN last hosted a gathering of similar scale in November 2018, making the event a significant return to Rwanda’s golfing and business community.

Ndoli described the occasion as "a wonderful comeback”, saying MTN was once again seeking to strengthen its presence among golfers while creating an environment where customers, partners and business leaders could engage, exchange ideas and build relationships outside their usual business settings.

Golf, business and the next shot

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Monzer Ali, drew a parallel between golf, business and MTN’s own journey.

"In golf, you plan, you target, you shoot. But the ball might have its own ambitions and plans,” Monzer told participants.

He said businesses face similar realities, where carefully designed strategies and execution do not always produce the expected results.

"That’s why we respond, and we take the next shot. That’s business,” he said.

Monzer noted that the tournament was therefore about more than winning trophies. It was an opportunity to step away from formal business agendas and to strengthen relationships.

"Normally, when we meet, we set an agenda and a target. Today, we decided to step away from all this and simply have fun, enjoy, and connect,” he said.

The CEO said that those gathered at the tournament had, in different ways, contributed to MTN Rwanda’s journey, making the event an opportunity to appreciate their trust, partnership and even criticism.

"We want to remain a company, not just to connect Rwanda. We want to remain a company that listens to Rwanda,” he said.

He added that MTN wants to grow with its customers and create value for its partners, stressing that behind every business number is a person, customer or partnership.

UrugoNet brings MTN’s connectivity into the home

The tournament also gave MTN the opportunity to showcase UrugoNet, its home internet offering, highlighting the company’s efforts to extend reliable connectivity beyond mobile users to households and everyday living spaces.

Ndoli described UrugoNet as part of MTN’s broader ambition to make connectivity available wherever customers live, work and interact.

"People are used to our mobile connectivity. We now connect homes,” he said.

The proposition, he added, is to enable customers to stay connected across different parts of their daily lives - at home, at work and on the move.

By placing UrugoNet alongside its broader stakeholder engagement agenda, MTN used the tournament to demonstrate how its definition of connectivity is evolving from simply connecting people via mobile services to enabling connected homes, businesses and communities.

Partners strengthen the MTN ecosystem

The tournament, supported by a wide range of partners including Ericsson, Ishara Towers, Sensitive Group, TECNO, Turkish Airlines, Mantis Kivu Marina Bay Hotel, Nass, Gwandere, Atecal Garage, Emerald Kivu Resort, Shreekom Solutions and Flufor, also reinforced the role of collaboration in delivering value to customers and in supporting Rwanda’s connected economy.

The tournament therefore served not only as a sporting event, but also as a platform for MTN to recognise the relationships that underpin its business and continued growth in Rwanda.

Over 200 golfers compete for top honours

The competitive side of the tournament was equally strong, with 202 golfers competing across several handicap categories and special contests, including Nearest to the Pin and Longest Drive for men, women and seniors.

In the Ladies Handicap 19-36 category, Cynthia Fayman won with 46 points, followed by Diane Mukunde on 40 points and Roshni Shah on 34 points.

The tournament also featured Ladies Handicap 0-18, Seniors, Men Handicap 19-28, Men Handicap 10-18, and Men Handicap 0-9 categories, giving golfers at all levels a chance to compete for top honours.

Jack Gatera won the overall Best Gross Score with a 73, taking home a trophy and a Turkish Airlines business-class ticket.

The bigger prize: reconnecting

While the tournament celebrated sporting achievement, MTN officials said the event’s value extended well beyond the leaderboard.

For the company, the bigger win was creating an opportunity to reconnect with the people and organisations that form part of its journey - customers, partners, business leaders and the wider golfing community.

Monzer said the company is committed to continuous improvement, acknowledging that no business gets every "shot” right.

"Today is better than yesterday. And tomorrow will be better than today,” he said.

As MTN Rwanda expands its connectivity offering and deepens its engagement with customers and stakeholders, its return to golf reminded everyone that connectivity is not only about networks and technology. It is also about relationships, trust, listening and creating spaces where people can connect.