Press Releases

Millicom | Tigo to launch new digital “Conectadas” platform for the digital skilling and inclusion of women and girls in Latin America

Original press release

Millicom, a leading provider of fixed, mobile and digital services in Latin America through its Tigo brand, is launching a region-wide web-based app for its Conectadas program, offering women and girls learning modules on digital literacy and entrepreneurship, creating a springboard for social and economic opportunities as well as inclusion.

Millicom | Tigo first launched Conectadas in 2017 and since then, more than 560,000 women and girls have been trained through the program. The new platform, set to launch on April 28^th, represents the evolution of the program, as its benefits will now reach women from the entire region. Women with work and/or familial responsibilities, or who live in remote or rural locations, often lack the time or means to attend the Conectadas workshops in the nine countries where Millicom operates and implements its ESG-based education programs aiming at improving lives through connectivity; the digital platform will make access to the Conectadas educational tools much easier for these women.

The free modules, developed with Grameen Foundation and accessible through the Conectadas platform, educate women on topics such as basic internet usage, management of personal finances, and the effective use of digital tools and social media for business. Millicom’s objective is for the platform to reach thousands of additional women in 2022 and beyond. Education stands at the core of Millicom | Tigo’s commitment to its communities and their digital empowerment.

Since its early stages, various allies and partners have helped drive the expansion of Conectadas in the nine countries where Tigo operates, including the Economic Competitiveness Project of the United States Agency for Development (USAID), the Business Foundation for Social Action (FUNDEMAS), Banco Agricola, Fedecredito, La Constancia, Belcorp, Vogue, UN Women, the Grameen Foundation, and various local media outlets.

“We are incredibly excited for the launch of the new Conectadas platform, as the well-known benefits of the program for women across Latin America will now be available to so many more online,” said Karim Lesina, Millicom EVP Chief External Affairs Officer. “This new step forward of Conectadas speaks to the importance we place on empowering women and girls in the region, allowing for personal and professional growth through digital education and the opportunities it brings. The digital divide and the lack of digital literacy continue preventing as many as half of the people in Latin America from fully participating in society. We have responded with initiatives such as our partnership with Fundación Real Madrid signed in 2021, and we continue to provide digital literacy training to teachers through our Maestr@s Conectad@s program. These and other efforts reinforce our support of the UN Global Compact and Sustainable Development Goals. We want to do more than connecting our communities – we want to be a conduit of investment capital for developing economies in Latin America.”

“Millicom’s Conectadas program is special, not just because it is a proven plan to benefit women and girls in Latin America, but also because it is built on facts,” said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union. “Conectadas is an excellent example of action based in the Commission’s foundational goal of meaningful universal connectivity.”

The Conectadas program originally launched in Guatemala in 2017 before expanding to El Salvador and Colombia the same year. The program was then introduced to Bolivia in 2018, where it was very well received and now accounts for over 50% of all the women trained by Tigo since its launch.

In 2019, Conectadas expanded to Panama, Paraguay, Honduras, and Costa Rica, and most recently to Nicaragua in 2020. As a result, between all the nine countries where Tigo offers the program, more than 560,000 women have been trained, with a growing average of more than 150,000 women trained per year.