The United Nations (UN) Global Compact has recognized MOBIcure co-founder as an individual among those who champion sustainability and are mobilising companies to be a force for good.
Yesterday, the UN announced the selected 2017 Sustainable Development Goals Pioneers which included Dr Charles Immanuel Akhimien. Akhimien hails from Nigeria and is the co-founder of MOBicure – a social enterprise providing mobile technology solutions in healthcare for Nigeria and other developing nations.
MOBicure is also one of the Top 10 Innovators to participate in the first Africa-based Startupbootcamp Accelerator. The 3-month accelerator programme is taking place in Cape Town, gear up to reach ambitious targets to scale.
“My vision for healthcare is to bring healthcare to the fingertips of every man, woman and child using mobile technology. There is a mobile technology explosion in Africa, a clear opportunity for mobile to play a role in enabling access to basic services such as healthcare through innovative applications and the use of mobile broadband,” states Akhimien.
His innovative application, MOBicure, is a mobile health company that is using mobile technology to solve some of the most pressing healthcare problems facing Nigeria and the rest of Africa, with particular emphasis on maternal and child health as this is where the African continent still has the worst health indices in the world.
With MOBicure tackling healthcare problems in developing countries, it is no surprise that they have achieved so much already. Their flagship product is called OMOMi, which means “my child”, and it is a mobile platform that enables mothers to easily monitor their children’s health. It also provides access to specific and life-saving maternal and child health information, plus medical expertise – all at the touch of a button.
The multi award-winning OMOMi is an innovative and cost-effective solution that has empowered and engaged over 20 000 women on antenatal, postnatal and child care, as well as connected these women to health personnel in case of emergencies.
Dr Charles Akhimien is a medical doctor, innovator and award-winning social entrepreneur and he is adding Sustainable Development Goals Pioneer to an already impressive list of achievements. Akhimien is a Mandela Washington Fellow, a 2017 Commonwealth Youth Awards Finalist, an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society, a runner-up of the 2016 Queen’s Young Leaders Award and an Alumnus of the Yunus & Youth Global Fellowship Programme.
“With almost 90% of population growth set to happen in Africa by the end of this century, disruption is needed across every element of life. An increase of this level of magnitude is going to require disruption across every element of life. Every aspect is going to be fundamentally transformed, there’s no hope for incremental growth, it’s just going to have to scale massively,” shares Philip Kiracofe, co-MD of Startupbootcamp in Africa. “At Startupbootcamp, MOBicure is precisely the type of disruptive innovation that we strive to support to rapidly scale.”
OMOMi consists of a mobile app and a web app, and has 31,000 users. OMOMi also has a vibrant online community of thousands of mothers and fathers, where parents and would-be-parents can interact among themselves and most importantly connect with doctors in real-time.
