Health group in second bid to promote social entrepreneurship

General Electric (GE) Health and America’s Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship have now launched the second edition of the Healthymagination Mother and Child Programme.

The programne is aimed at bridging the gap between social entrepreneurs in Kenya and Sub-Saharan Africa and investors in the health sector across the globe in a bid to drastically reduce infant and maternal mortality rates in the region.

GE Health has now launched an appeal for interested parties to apply before May 5, 2017 to be considered for the second programme.

In July 2016, GE Health shortlisted 17 social entrepreneurs from Sub-Saharan Africa region, 7 being from Kenya to be trained on how to pitch their innovations or initiatives to potential investors in the health sector to fund their ideas to move them away from reliance on donor-funding.

The finalists attended a three-day, in-person workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, followed by a six-month online accelerator program that included weekly, in-depth mentoring from Silicon Valley-based executives and local GE business leaders.

The Programme that was launched in March 2016 is designed to help the social entrepreneurs acquire business fundamentals, improve their strategic thought processes and articulate a business plan that demonstrates impact, growth and long-term financial sustainability.

GE’s healthymagination seeks to deliver high-quality, more affordable healthcare to more people around the world.

According to Jay Ireland, President and CEO of GE Africa, says the initiative targets to solve African health sector challenges through innovative ventures by the entrepreneurs selected from Kenya, Burundi, DRC Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

Founded in 1997, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship accelerates global, innovation-based entrepreneurship in service to humanity as well as a strategic focus on poverty eradication.