New Hope for Ghana ’s schools

Besides ensuring that Ghanaian mobile phone users enjoy value for money, Tigo (the cellular brand of Millicom Ghana Limited) seeks to support the provision of quality education in the country. Tigo announced recently that they are staging a massive rehabilitation campaign in more than one hundred schools in Ghana as a part of an enhanced corporate social responsibility focus.

Addressing the press during a familiarization tour of two of the identified schools in Nima, a suburb of Accra, Ms. Anita Erskine, Consultant on Social Investment of the company, said Millicom Ghana was committed to promoting education in the country. "As we all know, education forms the foundation on which true development is based and Tigo is committed to that; it is Tigo’s desire to invest in the community they serve, and to make a sustainable difference.”

United Way Ghana (UWG) and Tigo Ghana are collaborating in the design and implementation of this program. UWG Governing Council president, Janet Butler, said “Our focus on health, education and income generation has been evident in all the projects we have embarked on over the years”. She added that,” to be able to move Ghana from its current state we need to collectively invest in quality education”.

“The need for a more meaningful nationwide focus on access to education at the primary level and sustainable health focused development is the genesis of this partnership between TIGO and UWG”, said The Executive Director of United Way Ghana , Karen Shormeh Sai. “This partnership is a critical first step in mobilizing the corporate sector to join with other stakeholders to find sustainable solutions to the health and education related development problems of the communities they serve”, she stressed

The tour, organized by UWG, was graced by the General Manager and Chief Financial Officer of Tigo as well as two Governing Council members of UWG, Janet Butler and Douha Smith and allowed a first hand assessment of the scope of the problem in the school system. The Nima schools identified are Qubatah Khadrah Islamic Basic School and St. Kizito Roman Catholic Church Basic School, which did not have adequate classrooms and Information Technology Communication

United Way Ghana works with both donors and charities and is therefore, in a unique position to support the needs of both groups. United Way Ghana works through community based organizations to offer structured services to underprivileged communities. Through Corporate Partnership Programs, such as this one with Tigo, UWG develops custom tailored interventions to fit the level of community investment a corporate body wants to deliver.

United Way Ghana is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to build community capacity for sustainable development in the areas of health, education, and income generation through collaborative efforts of all stakeholders. Our vision is stronger, healthier, better-educated, sustainable Ghanaian communities.