BiD Network hosted a group of impact investors from the Netherlands and Belgium for a week-long Impact Investment Trip in March, in Rwanda and Uganda. During the trip, investors interacted with 15 investment ready small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) working across various sectors; Food and Agriculture, Fintech, Transport, Water and Environment. The investors expressed their concrete interest in 11 SMEs.
Learning about cross border investing gave our investors key insights
This year’s BiD Network trip was particularly eventful because investors got to learn more about cross-border investing. Throughout the 5-day visit, investors spent time with selected SMEs and entrepreneurs, all of whom had a strong entrepreneurial team, proven business model and the potential to scale. Accompanying investors on these site visits were experienced deal makers from BiD Network, who highlighted key aspects of the businesses and the value addition to their customers and communities.
BiD Network leveraging key partners in Rwanda for economic prosperity
The Rwandan leg of the trip included a deal-making event hosted by Nguriza Nshore, BiD Network’s key partner in Rwanda, where top SMEs pitched their businesses to investors and other stakeholders in the finance sector. The Impact Investment Trip ended on a high note with a fun Networking and Cocktail event that saw investors engage with the Ugandan entrepreneurs in BiD Network’s portfolio.
Closing the financial Gap for East African entrepreneurs
One of the greatest outcomes of this BiD Network’s trip was the signing of a letter of intent between BiD Network and Close the Gap, an international social enterprise that aims to bridge the digital divide by offering high-quality, pre-owned computers donated by large and medium-sized corporations or public organisations to educational, medical, entrepreneurial and social projects in developing and emerging markets. Close the Gap has now extended their activities by supporting entrepreneurship and innovation in East Africa through initiatives such as Worldloop, Leap² programme and the Digital for Development platform. BiD Network and Close the Gap have expressed interest in collaborating more closely on trying to ‘close the financial gap’ for these promising East African companies who address societal issues through technology.
