Wednesday 26 July 2017

Healthymagination Addresses Maternal, Child Health in Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa

Rebecca Ejifoma

GE And Santa Clara University’s Miller Centre for Social Entrepreneurship has launched the second cohort of healthymagination Mother and Child Programme that will receive training and mentorship aimed at improving and accelerating maternal and child health outcomes in Africa.

The programme, by GE and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, aims to continue to accelerate health innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the Executive Director of healthmagination, Robert Wells, solving local health challenges calls for locally-adapted interventions and innovations, and Social Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa are playing a major role in this regard.

“The healthymagination Mother and Child programme will continue to provide them with mentorship and in-depth training, accelerating health innovation and furthering our goal to increase the quality, access and affordability of maternal and child health,” he said.

Meanwhile, Executive Director of Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Thane Kreina expressed that GE’s mission to work on better health for more people is evidenced by their continuing partnership to help social enterprises scale their impact.
Continuing, he affirmed that this cohort’s impact aligned with the target indicators for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3. “Miller Center is honored such amazing social enterprises applied to this Mother & Child accelerator programme.”



Now, after a rigorous application and evaluation process, 14 organisations were selected to be in the programme’s second cohort of social entrepreneurs and accelerate maternal health outcomes across Africa with impact areas including: Benin, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe among others.

The second cohort of entrepreneurs are currently attending a three-day, in-person workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa. This kick-off workshop packs core business principles into a powerful forum facilitated by senior-level Miller Center mentors and GE business leaders. The programme is designed to help the organisations acquire business fundamentals, improve their strategic thought processes, and articulate business plans that demonstrate impact, growth and long-term financial sustainability.

The kick-off workshop will be followed by a six-month, online accelerator programme with in-depth mentorship from Silicon Valley-based executives and local GE business leaders. The accelerator and mentorship programme will culminate in a “Premier Pitch” event in Africa where the 14 organisations will present their respective enterprises to an audience of potential investors.

“Nurturing a vibrant social entrepreneurship ecosystem is key for sustainable healthcare development and is a major focus area , Cedars Diagnostics, doctHERs, Early Reach,Liberian Energy Network, Maternity Foundation, MDaaS, MOBicure, Neopenda, Sevamob, SubQ Assist and Totohealth Tanzania.

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