African countries and India may have vastly different local cultures and contexts, but they face similar development challenges. There are few other places in the world where the market is incentivized to solve challenges of low income and under-served consumers in a sustainable manner.
While the case for Africa-India collaboration may be clear, specific opportunities are not. The first ever Sankalp African Summit 2014 sought to demystify the opportunities.
The Sankalp Forum was launched in India in 2009 to recognize and support innovative, sustainable, high-impact small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Over the past five years, Sankalp has developed into one of the largest platforms geared toward building a better environment for high-impact, pro-poor businesses.
“Sankalp” is a Hindi term meaning “pledge.” The two-day forum marking Sankalp’s entry into Africa – with a Small and Medium Enterprise Awards program and an industry convention – sought to build a south-south corridor to promote greater learning and partnerships between developing countries.
Bearing in mind the changing demographics of the African continent and increasing interest from the Asian private sector, the 2014 forum this week in Nairobi sought to identify the space that exists for a south-south collaboration in driving inclusive growth.
“As the world looks to Africa for insights on systematic approaches to inclusive development – can Africa also look to other developing economies of the global south for answers?” said Intellecap CEO Anurag Agrawal, who delivered the keynote address Feb. 12 at Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi. Sankalp Forum is an Intellecap initiative.
Until recently, Africa had an unfortunate public relations problem, speakers said at the first-ever Sankalp Africa Forum — one that seeks to discover and scale up high-impact businesses by connecting them to enablers and crucial networks.
“Africa’s PR problem stemmed from coverage that depicts poverty, drought, conflicts and political unrest. The truth is that Africa is doing well – if not better than other developing regions. It has been for a while now,” said Agrawal. “The $2-trillion African economy has been growing faster than any other continent in the world. There is no market as exciting as this. Africans are not only clamoring for change; they are working toward it – daily.”
Opportunities for development and financial inclusion exist that can be filled by social entrepreneurs in Africa’s energy, agriculture, education, technology and healthcare sectors, said Jeff Koinange, a Kenyan journalist, at the forum.
“The 50-plus nations comprising Africa represent remarkable opportunities for local, regional, and international business enterprises to do well, while doing good,” said Koinange. “An Africa-India collaboration would be the right track for driven development. Our economies are very much alike.”
Parallel sessions at the forum focused on short- and -medium-term solutions to Africa’s energy deficit, private sector innovations for improved food security and technology interventions for healthcare.
The forum, attended by 450 delegates from more than 20 countries, doubled as the inaugural award ceremony for Sankalp’s Africa Awards that received more than 100 applications.
The ceremony aimed at supporting emerging, high-impact African SMEs through a rigorous program that sources scalable businesses across high-impact sectors. The 12 finalists selected from 100-plus applicants pitched their social enterprises to a panel of funders and delegates.
Continental Renewable Energy, a Kenyan manufacturer of eco-friendly fencing posts and roofing tiles, won the Sankalp Award.
“Due to the ongoing war of plastic waste, this product is unique since it utilizes mixed post-consumer waste by blending it with sand,” said Aghan Oscar, CEO. “The products are not just cost efficient, but are eco-friendly as well. They are known to have a life expectancy of over 40 years with minimal degradation.”
Prosoya Kenya scooped first runner-up position. The company buys corn, sorghum, soy beans and finger millet from small-scale farmers, extrudes the composite, and fortifies the extrude with vitamins and minerals to create packages of fortified foods. The packaged product is sold at affordable prices to combat malnutrition. Nongovernmental organizations are Prosoya Kenya’s key clients.
Micro-clinic Technologies was second runner up. It is a Kenya-based corporation specializing in developing and commercializing healthcare technologies. Its pipeline includes mobile monitoring devices for maternal and child conditions and its flagship enterprise — health management app ZiDi — is designed to improve the supply-chain management of medical commodities in the African market.
