This archive report was first published on 30 July 2019.
July 30, 2019
Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, has called on innovators in Africa to adopt viable business models for their enterprises to ensure growth and sustainability.
Speaking during a two-day training workshop for social entrepreneurs, Eduardo Lioy, Director Corporate Strategy Development at Boehringer Ingelheim, emphasized the importance of the 'co-creation' approach in realizing the company's mission of establishing a network of financially sustainable social ventures.
“The 'co-creation' approach used in the workshop is one of the key tools in realising our mission of establishing a network of financially sustainable social ventures. Co-creation is about bringing together diverse people and ideas and allowing them to learn from each other while challenging and improving innovative solutions, increasing their chances of success,” said Eduardo.
The 'Making More Health' (MMH) Accelerator programme brings together African social entrepreneurs, Ashoka, an innovators platform, and Boehringer Ingelheim's leaders from around the globe to brainstorm on ways to enhance the start-ups' business models and identify opportunities for strategic collaboration to improve human and animal health.
The programme aims to review and improve social entrepreneurs' business models, as well as identifying opportunities for partnerships. It has pooled innovators from Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria who are working on animal and human health programmes in rural areas in their respective countries.
The social ventures will proceed to a pilot phase over the next six months, where they will develop a minimum viable product specific to their market needs. It will then culminate in the social entrepreneurs pitching at Boehringer Ingelheim's headquarters for scale-up funding.
Through the Accelerator program, Boehringer Ingelheim seeks to build a network of financially sustainable social enterprises in Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana to expand their outreach in remote areas.
