Two young social entrepreneurs, Yves Iradukunda and Dominique Uwase Alonga, have emerged winners of this year’s Tigo Reach for Change competition that comes with a Rwf27.6 million financing package.

The Tigo Reach for Change award supports projects that promote children’s welfare. It is organised by Tigo and Reach for Change, a Swedish non-profit organisation that supports children and youth causes.

The two will each receive Rwf13.8 million funding from Tigo for the next three years to implement their projects.

Iradukunda’s winning idea is about developing a programme that empowers schools to efficiently collect and manage students’ information to ensure parents are involved in their children’s education. Alonga pitched a project that seeks to create an environment where children enjoy reading by organising reading competitions - what she termed ‘Read-a-thon (K-Rat) - to reward the best children readers in Rwanda. Alonga will also develop software to encourage and track reading habits of children.

Speaking at the award giving ceremony, Tigo chief, Tongai Maramba, said the two winning projects demonstrated how digital tools and initiatives can solve some of the social challenges in the country. 

"The two will join an incubator programme, where they will be supported to transform their ideas into sustainable ventures. They will also receive mentoring from senior employees at Tigo and Reach for Change,” he said.

They join five other social entrepreneurs already being supported by Tigo on the programme.