NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Tigo and “Reach for Change”, an international NGO, have launched a new campaign with an aim of supporting social entrepreneurs to enhance the lives of Rwandan youth.

While addressing the press, the corporate social responsibility officer for TIGO Nina Claudia Ndabanenze emphasized that the importance of this initiative is not only to benefit Tigo as a company but the country as a whole.

Explaining how this concept came about, Ndabanenze said, “Social entrepreneurship started way back in Sweden in 1990 but it is happening in Africa for the first time and has started in Rwanda because the country has a healthy business environment.”

According to the official, a social entrepreneur is one who has no intention to make profit but with same energy as the usual business person. The other difference is that for the social entrepreneur, the aim is to make an impact on the street children and the youth.

During this campaign, Tigo calls upon the community members who have innovative and lucrative ideas to attract the youth because they are the future of the country.

There are going to be panelists to evaluate the applications, from all sorts of companies of the private sector to the children organization.

At the end, two best people will be given US$25, 000 each every year for the next three years.