Partner Profile Invest in Africa – Kenya | Small Foundation Impact Report 2022

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Invest in Africa – Kenya

PRACTICE AREA

Invest in Africa – Kenya

REGION

Kenya

INVESTMENT YEARS

2020-2023

IN 2022

5,000 SMEs in the network
Member satisfaction with IIA’s offering increased by 22%

Invest in Africa (IIA) is a pan-African private sector partnership initiative working to drive sustainable growth and job creation by developing African SMEs. IIA-Kenya is a membership network for Kenyan SMEs. IIA-Kenya partners with leading companies to: connect multinationals and larger businesses to local suppliers; improve its member SMEs’ access to skills, contracts and capacity; and improve the investment climate and quality of policy discussions in Kenya. Small Foundation partnered with IIA-Kenya to support its adaptation to a network approach and its operational sustainability.

Systems lens

Access to markets, skills and investment are critical challenges faced by African SMEs. Recognising the role that a network approach could play in facilitating members’ access to skills, markets and finance, IIA-Kenya and its online platform, biashara.now, provide a key linkage to SME effectiveness and sustainability across Kenya. By convening entrepreneurs and business leaders, IIA is able to connect and engage players across value chains and business development services, holistically supporting the ecosystem to improve the operating landscape and drive success for SMEs to enhance livelihoods and create sustainable jobs.

Impact story

Partner perspective

“Under the partnership with Small Foundation, IIA has seen improved traffic within the network in the form of collaborative initiatives aimed at delivering more value to SMEs. This increased collaboration has led to network growth, stakeholder retention and higher satisfaction scores, and improved value to SMEs in terms of access to skills, finance, and market linkages. IIA has found immense value in incorporating the network approach into stakeholder engagement, as well as the IMM framework. Through the network approach, the organisation is and will continue to be in the know of critical systemic challenges and figure out sustainable solutions that result from a holistic collaboration.”