TechnoServe is a non profit organization that assists micro and small retailers in Kenya, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Tanzania scale and maximize profitability of their businesses.
The organization does this through the delivery of a combination of in-shop advisory services and group trainings. With micro and small businesses forming majority of the emerging economy, TechnoServe enables them to increase their income and maximize their economic potential.
So far, the organization has worked with 24,095 micro-entrepreneurs across these countries in partnership with Citi Foundation, Elea Foundation, the Mastercard Center, Mastercard Foundation, and the Moody’s Foundation.
Through the training programs, TechnoServe has helped store owners to form business groups that facilitate bulk ordering and direct linkages to suppliers and manufacturers. The firm also trains small scale entrepreneurs by addressing access to finance constraints, through rotating savings and credit associations and mutual credit guarantees.
Programs such as Smart Duka by TechnoServe have increased the profitability of over 1,000 high potential shops in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.
Stats from the International Labor Organization (ILO) indicate that small and micro businesses generate about 90% of employment opportunities in Sub-Sharan Africa. This makes them an essential source of basic goods and services for vulnerable communities and serve as a vital link in food supply chains.
Nearly two-thirds of the world’s poor rely on agriculture for their incomes, making this sector two to four times more effective at raising incomes in developing countries than other sectors. TechnoServe helps smallholder farmers improve the quality and quantity of high-value crops with particular potential for improving incomes.
This has enables some of the world’s poorest populations to improve their quality of living by using improved seeds to produce high value crops.