Project profile — Accelerating Business Growth in Ethiopia

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) improved financial, social and environmental performance of selected Ethiopian women and men-owned SMEs to drive sustainable and responsible growth; (2) increased effectiveness of Ethiopian institutions and financial professionals to facilitate women and men-owned SMEs’ access to finance; and (3) increased funding flowing to Ethiopian SMEs from foreign and domestic investors, lenders and donors.

Results achieved as of March 2018 include: (1) provision of legal support and closed new investments with two SMEs: one in a logistics company and one in a global restaurant brand - to be announced in May 2018); (2) launch of the second cohort within the Accelerator program (the executive’s program) with a total of 17 executives enrolled, representing 14 SMEs of which 9 are women-led; (3) launch of the second cohort of the chief financial officer (CFO) 100 program with a total of 33 finance professionals enrolled, representing 33 SMEs from which 10 are women; (4) trained 156 SME business owners on private equity under the incubator program; (5) grew the Impact Angel Network (IAN) by 36 members, of which seven persons are Canadians; (6) launch of Chigign ‘Tobiya, in partnership with Tonetor Multimedia, aimed at raising awareness of and building interest in entrepreneurship locally in Ethiopia. The TV series is being broadcasted on national television (FANA TV), and involves entrepreneurs looking to raise seed capital, pitching their ideas to a panel including RENEW and three other local angel investors; (7) launched the ‘Women in Finance Series’ aimed at empowering and inspiring women finance professionals in Ethiopia. Held two sessions in partnership with two banks: first one in November 2017, and the second edition in March 2018. These results have contributed to strengthen the financial, social and environmental performance of small and medium businesses (SMEs) in Ethiopia, so they are better able to attract and manage finance, including private equity financing, and scale up their companies.