Vision: MSMEs serving people living in rural poverty operate within and are served by a commercially viable ecosystem of intermediaries.

Small Foundation seeks to achieve this in partnership with intermediaries meeting the needs of MSMEs with high quality and appropriate services.

In 2022 this work took the form of:

• • Investment in intermediary models supporting the development of commercially viable agri-SMEs.
  • Funding research into what BDS models for agri-SMEs are most cost-efficient and effective.
  • Working with network partners seeking to unlock insights around agri-businesses that are accessing African institutional capital.

Through our partnership with Founders Factory Africa (FFA) to build and scale agtech ventures we have enabled startups such as Isidore, Synnefa, Rural Farmers Hub, Offgrid Finance and Winich Farms to develop and grow. FFA supports agtech startups to innovate and improve service delivery to smallholder farmers and MSMEs customers, enabling further investment, sustainability and scale.

FFA’s portfolio ventures are implementing new technologies and approaches that are changing the way business is done, such as digitising payment systems and adopting data driven insights. Ventures like Offgrid Finance work directly with institutional finance providers to deliver more accessible and responsive capital.

Another of our partners, Capria, is collaborating with emerging market fund managers to deliver returns and scaled impact. In 2022, it had eight Africa-based direct investments while investing in three SME funds with an African footprint.

To expand actionable knowledge around unlocking development support for agri-SME ecosystems, we co-funded new research exploring the cost-efficiency and effectiveness of BDS provision. The research was a collaboration between AGRA, Agriterra, AMEA, Argidius Foundation, ISF Advisors, SAFIN and Small Foundation.

Isidore’s Jinja Seller app training for farmers in Nasarawa State

In 2022 we made further investments to understand the effectiveness of commercially viable investments in African SMEs. We supported Women in African Investments (WAI) to publish an impact report, which showed the power of intentionally connecting women investors across Africa.

WAI members’ system change initiatives to allocate capital more equitably and responsibly have been bolstered by the WAI network. Examples include an Emerging Capital Allocations Programme taken forward by the Collaborative for Frontier Finance, the publication of Adventure Finance by Aunnie Patton Power in 2021, and the Harmonisation of Crowdfunding Regulations in East Africa taken forward by the African Crowdfunding Association.

Small Foundation supports ideas and experiments that catalyse an ecosystem of commercially viable, sustainable business models serving rural MSMEs. We know that providing appropriate finance is necessary but not sufficient; we need to use all the financial and non-financial tools at our disposal. Advancing towards this systems goal requires us to support not just commercially viable investments, but also to consider ways to better connect sources of knowledge and expertise and generate new learning.