5.4 Case Study 4: Enterprise solutions to poverty

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6.3 Come Together: Enterprise solutions to poverty - By Shell Foundation

SME investment funds – deploying
local capital and the challenge of
going to scale

Key Features of the SME financing case study

The Shell Foundation is supporting the sustainable
growth of SME’s in Africa via the linked provision
of both business development assistance and noncollateralised
finance. African SMEs are typically
unable to secure commercial finance because
local banks are reluctant to take on the ‘risks’
represented by lending to entrepreneurs who lack
both business experience and collateral

In the last 2 years, in partnership with local banks,
we have set up the $5 million Uganda Energy
Fund and the $8 million Empowerment through
Energy Fund in South Africa. Our banking
partners in these initiatives are fully at risk with us.
Results to date:

345 pro-poor enterprises have received business
development assistance – of which 170 are now
receiving finance and ongoing mentoring.

It is estimated that these two funds have created
almost a thousand new jobs plus generated a
variety of other pro-poor outcomes

Both funds have gained enormously from valueadded
and no-cost support from local Shell
companies.

Both funds are generating financial returns that
are attractive to commercial investors
$20 million second stage funds are planned for
both with the large majority of capital being
provided by local banks

Things are further advanced in our SME
investment fund programme – called Investment
Partnerships – now operating in Uganda and South
Africa, and soon to be extended elsewhere in Africa
and beyond. The issue – lack of energy access by
poor rural households and producers – is the same
as in India only more extreme.51 The energy access
challenge being explored by Shell Foundation in
Africa is also the same as in India: how to catalyse
the development of a financially viable SME sector
capable of supplying pro-poor energy sources and
services.

6.0 Propositions and conclusion: Enterprise solutions to poverty

6.3 Come Together: Enterprise solutions to poverty

2.0 Introduction: Enterprise solutions to poverty

1.15 Building an employment agenda: Working Out of Poverty

1.9 Building local development through cooperatives: Working Out of Poverty

IV. Introduction - MICROFINANCE IN AFRICA: THE MODEL

1.19 Building trust: Working Out of Poverty

The Importance of Case Studies for your PR Program

Why business needs to be inolved in implementing an IT Solution

Home Business Expert: How To Overcome Poverty Consciousness

Is there still a use for case studies in PR?

1.0 Executive Summary: Enterprise solutions to poverty

Increase Sales with Case Studies

Leveraging the Power of Markets with Microfranchising

4.0 Sustainable pro-poor growth and the governance of the labour market: Working Out of Poverty

1.1 Our mandate: Working Out of Poverty

Part of outsourcing information technology (IT) services

Recommendations for future research - Factors Impeding the Poverty Reduction Capacity of Micro-credit: Some Field Observations from Malawi and Ethiopia

1.8 Making money work for poverty reduction: Working Out of Poverty

Building Trust with Your Prospects by Using Case Studies

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6.3 Come Together: Enterprise solutions to poverty - By Shell Foundation

About the Author: Shell Foundation

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The Shell Foundation is established to support efforts to achieve a balance between economic growth, care for the environment and equitable social development - the goal of sustainable development. The Foundation's focus on sustainable development is based upon the Shell Group's belief that the long-term health and prosperity of societies of which it is part, and its own future, depends on the ability of all stakeholders, worldwide, to attain such balance. However, as one of the most significant international oil and energy groups, Shell recognises the global dimension of many sustainability issues related to its activities. It believes it has a responsibility and an opportunity to play its part in addressing these issues.
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5.4 Case Study 4: Enterprise solutions to poverty

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