Brainstorming on social entrepreneurship, state of healthcare, other issues
A 2-day virtual conference, held at the instance of Leap Africa, which brought together over 500 delegates globally, including a stout collection of firebrand experts.
Social Innovators Programmes and Awards (SIPA) 2020 virtual conference which held first week of October 2020 was well attended by over 500 delegates globally. The first day of the 2-day virtual conference, organised at the instance of Leap Africa, offered valuable perspectives on how to actualize the SDG’S on the wings of social entrepreneurship.
Fire side chat
The fire side chat hosted by Joseph Mojume had Melanie Perkins, co-founder and CEO of Canva, Melanie discussed the role of collaborative efforts in maximizing impact. She stated that when a group of people do not share a strong vision, people would roll their boats in different directions. In her words, “Do as much as you can and find people who share the same vision with you”.
Sustainable development
The main panel session titled ‘Achieving sustainable development through social entrepreneurship’ was moderated by Pearl Uzokwe, Director of Governance and Sustainability at Sahara Group Limited.
The panelists include. Among several others
Jan Van Weijen -
Consular General Nigeria, Kingdom of The Netherlands
• Paula Moreno - Founding President, Manos Visbles; Board Member, Ford Foundation.
The session offered valuable insight on the importance of reaching people, no matter how small the number, as long as lives are impacted. The session also emphasized the need for “access to networks and partners is important as no one single person can actually create deep lasting change”.
Relevant Education: Pathway to Progress
The first breakout sessions focused on Investment and Innovation for affordable healthcare in Africa was moderated by Emmanuel Owobu, co-founder and CEO of MOBicure.
The panelists were Dr. Paulin Basinga, Director Health Africa, Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, Ralph Oluwole,
Head of Growth, Helium
Health and Vivian NwakahC.e.o/founder of MEDSAF.
The session started with a highlight of the state of the healthcare sector in Nigeria where about 95% of Nigeria’s do not have access to affordable healthcare. Conversations centred on the need for more players in the health sector who can utilize the power of strategic collaborative efforts to pivot the sector in Nigeria. Major highlights include the emphasis on the use of technology and mobile solutions to facilitate the healthcare. “Technology brings digital solutions to health care problems”.
With delegates from all
over the world, day 2 was enlightening and transformative. The main panel titled Youth Skills, Employability and Entrepreneurship was moderated by Segun Alimi, Programme Manager LEAP Africa. The panelists were Chidinma Lawanson- Country Head, Nigeria, Mastercard
Foundation; Sharmi Shuramarain- Chief Impact Officer, Harambee Youth Employment
Accelerator; Seyi Ladejobi
Head, Employability at Lagos
State Employability Trust Fund (LSETF) and Tolu Agunbiade
General Manager.
Media and the creatives
The day witnessed four breakout sessions that held simultaneously. The first breakout session on Leveraging Media and the Creatives in Storytelling and Advocacy was moderated by Motunrayo Alaka, ED, and Wole Soyinka Centre
for Investigative Journalism. The panel include Ibidolapo Ajayi- Producer, Coming from Insanity, President, The Movement Pro; Jane Maduegbuna
- Executive Director, Legal and External Networks, Afrinolly Creative Hub.
Key insights from the session were on leveraging the power of the media to change mindsets and how it can be harnessed for social good. It emphasised the role of social media and how it has revolutionized information dissemination. The panelists therefore advocated for building communities of practitioners who use media to create change.
According to the panel: “Each individual is a change maker and needs to look around them and see what they can contribute to change the society”
Use of data
The second break out session on Exploring the Use of Data for Social Impact Measurement & Reporting was moderated by Desigan Chetty, Chief Operation Officer, Entrepreneurship to the Point and Property Point. The panelists were for this session were Oluseun Onigbinde- Co-founder and Budgit
• Kat AthanasiadesSenior Associate, Centre for Evaluation Innovation.
Conversations from the session suggested that the scarcity of data in development makes it difficult to make informed decisions hence interventions are designed by feelings and use of outdated explorations from the past. This presents a situation where interventions do not mirror the aspirations and needs of beneficiaries. There is therefore a call to be more intentional about data for impact assessment through support for data networks and more focus on debts rather than volumes. More than measuring numbers and activities, long term impact and their consequent indicators must be equally measured.