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“When human beings set their mind to get something done, they just do it. Nothing is impossible for human beings.”
Prof. Muhammad Yunus
Build Back Better
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) through the Employment and Skills for Development in Africa (E4D) Programme, and Yunus Environment Hub (YEH) have launched a program to support 25 social businesses (35% women owned and 40% youth owned) in Kenya to harness the advantages of the circular economy for a sustainable and resilient recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program promotes the SBs transformation to a more circular, resilient, and economically sustainable business growth that prioritizes social and environmental sustainability and enhances greener and long-term employment opportunities.
Dubbed as Build Back Better Social Business Program (BBB SBP), the 16-months program involves implementing individualized business solutions based on entrepreneur’s needs, societal and current global environmental challenges such as unsafe work environments, climate change-related challenges, cash flow shortages, disrupted supply chains, and resource depletion economy. We engage our internal and external social business advisory consultants to provide in-depth expertise in social business diagnostics, market assessment as well as circular and green opportunity mapping. The experts will support the social businesses in accessing new markets or position themselves within the new markets. They will also support the market entry of new products and services.
Timeline
As defined by Prof. Muhammad Yunus, a social business is a mission-driven business that is entirely dedicated to solving social or environmental problems. Specifically created for this purpose, a social business generates profits that are to be re-invested and aims to be financially self-sustaining.
In this regard the objectives of the BBB Social Business Program are to:
- Support the transition of 25 selected social businesses to become more circular, resilient and greener
- Support social businesses to regain or out-perform their pre-COVID operations
- Secure existing jobs and creating new green employment opportunities
- Ensure safe and healthy working conditions for employees of the social businesses
- Prepare 25 social businesses to be more resilient for future challenges
- Expose the social businesses to funding opportunities and support fundraising process
The program focuses on four sectors with significant socio-economic and environmental impact. These include:
- Agriculture and agribusiness value chains
- Basic Services e.g. waste management, water and sanitation, electrification, mobilization, etc.
- Manufacturing and retail
- Hospitality and tourism
Contact us to learn more about our social business participant´s profiles and their circular solutions
Value for Funders
Social businesses increase their resilience and sustainability while reducing environmental and climate impact through the implementation and scaling of circular economy strategies. There are many benefits for funders investing in Build Back Better Social Businesses, including:
Prequalified Social Businesses
BBB adheres to a strict selection process and program criteria. Social business must have a minimum of 2 years revenue generation and provide detailed information as part of the selection process. We run interviews and conduct in-person due diligence visits on short-listed applicants to identify top candidates to join our program.
Needs-based Upskilling
We offer a hybrid model of in-person and virtual training to upskill participants on core topics, while facilitating peer learning and network building. Topics are identified through needs assessments and direct feedback to ensure maximum relevance.
Individualized Consulting
In addition to group training, each participant is assigned a dedicated consultant to work with his/her social business. Together with consultants, participants follow our 6-step Circular Strategy Framework to build their circular roadmap and potential impact.
Ecosystem of Circular Solutions
Through the YEH Circular Strategy Framework, participants gain a deep understanding of the circular economy and are supported to build more circular business models. Funders gain access to our growing ecosystem of social businesses with validated circular solutions ready to implement at scale.
Measurable Impact
We help social businesses define and articulate impact metrics so funders can clearly see their social return on investment. Our team continues to track BBB social business KPIs over the years to monitor impact.
Due Diligence and Technical Support
BBB support goes beyond the Pitch Day as YEH consultants continue to support in the due diligence process, as well as technical assistance to implement circular solutions at scale.
Funder Matching
We organize in-person Pitch Days that connect funders with social businesses. Our team works closely with potential funders to ensure BBB social business investment opportunities match your portfolio criteria.
