Millicom supports African Union fight against Ebola
Stockholm, 3 December, 2014 – Millicom (Stockholmsbörsen: MIC), the international telecommunications and media company, announced today its support for the African Union’s (AU) campaign to raise funds for its fight against the Ebola virus in West Africa.
The initiative, operating under the hashtag ‘#AfricaAgainstEbola’, will use an SMS dedicated platform to raise funds for the deployment of African health workers to affected countries.
Ebola has claimed over five thousand lives across some parts of West Africa since it was first reported in Guinea in December 2013. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), this is the largest outbreak on the continent, affecting mostly Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
At a recent Business Roundtable on Ebola hosted by the AU, mobile operators committed to support efforts to fight Ebola by unveiling an Africa-wide three-month campaign dubbed, ‘Africa against Ebola’. This will focus on donations from members of the public who are customers of the operators and will be channelled into fighting the Ebola Virus.
The AU is leading this effort under its African Union Support to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA) mission, which has so far deployed 90 health workers to the three affected countries.
Commenting on the initiative, African Union Commission Chairperson, Her Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, said:
“We are conscious of the urgent need for all of us to do more, and to act fast. It is only by acting together will we ensure that our continent and world is free of Ebola. Let me repeat our call to all Africans to lead the global efforts of solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.”
The SMS fundraising campaign will use the short code 7979 with local adaptations where technology requires. Customers will be asked to text ‘Stop Ebola’ to this code in order to donate in their respective countries.
Mobile Operators across Africa including Airtel, Econet Wireless, Etisalat, MTN Group, Orange, Safaricom, Vodacom and Vodafone Ghana are participating in this campaign which will run between now and the end of February 2015.
Rachel Samrén, Project leader of the joint-operator campaign and Executive Vice President Strategic Operations and Partnerships at Millicom, commented “it has been a privilege to work with sector peers on this important cause and the spirit and determination of the operator group to get the campaign up and running has been truly inspiring. We are delighted to be part of the campaign which complements our internal employee matching donation campaign as well as the personal pledge of our Chairman to the Africa Against Ebola fund.”
For more please visit: www.millicom.com or contact:
Press Enquiries:
Julian Eccles, VP, Corporate Communications
+44 7720 409374
press@millicom.com
Investor Enquiries:
Nicolas Didio, Director of Investor Relations
+44 203 249 2220
investors@millicom.com
About Millicom
Millicom is a leading international telecommunications and media company dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America and Africa. Millicom sets the pace when it comes to providing digital lifestyle services to the world’s emerging markets, giving access to the world, primarily through mobile devices. Operating in fourteen countries, primarily under the Tigo brand, Millicom offers innovative and customer-centric products. Millicom employs more than 16,000 people and provides mobile, cable, broadband, TV content, online and financial services to over 50 million customers. Founded in 1990, Millicom is headquartered in Luxembourg and listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm under the symbol MIC. In 2013 Millicom generated revenue of $5.16 billion and EBITDA of $1.9 billion.
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