Tigo and Reach for Change launch incubator for social entrepreneurship in Africa

Millicom International Cellular S.A., the telecom group operating under the brand Tigo, has joined forces with the non-profit organization Reach for Change to improve the lives of children in Africa through social entrepreneurship.

It works like this. Entrepreneurs will be invited to pitch their innovative business ideas to a panel of judges. The ideas must somehow address, and seek to improve, the lives of children. Those with the most promising ideas will be invited to join a 3-year incubator program where they will work to transform their idea into a sustainable venture.

The entrepreneurs will also receive salary funding as well as mentoring and professional advice from senior employees of Tigo.

A pilot program was launched in Ghana in 2011. Tigo and Reach for Change selected five entrepreneurs for the incubator. Those businesses have already helped more than 140,000 children in Ghana.

Now the entrepreneurship program is expanding to Chad, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and the DRC.

For more information on the program, go to: www.reachforchange.org