For the 2024 educational 12 months, The New Institute (TNI), Hamburg, introduced collectively a various group of students worldwide to contribute to rethinking capitalism. The One Kindred One Enterprise Initiative (OKOBI) mannequin, presently championed by the Imo State Authorities, Nigeria, was chosen as a promising framework that challenges standard styles of capitalism and provides a singular perspective grounded within the African context. This intersection of world scholarship and African entrepreneurship represents an thrilling alternative for reimagining enterprise practices, organisational dynamics, and methods that handle native socio-economic points inside the broader context of world capitalism.
On the TNI, the programme targeted on OKOBI, which is conceptualised as motion analysis, with a remit to trace and report how teams translate and implement this mannequin into observe. Caje’s story, “I Have to Feed My Household”, printed in main Nigerian media shops, exemplifies one such implementation.
From the numerous suggestions we’ve got obtained on this story, it’s clear that the message resonated with many readers, main a number of well-placed Igbo professionals from world wide to achieve out to us, expressing curiosity in contributing to the motion. It’s pleasantly stunning, although not surprising, that phrases have been matched with motion as Caje and his group have secured their first funding.
Monitoring Caje’s story has led to the identification of a number of key insights. First, the OKOBI mannequin—and the broader group-based entrepreneurship drive—are usually not restricted to subsistence entrepreneurs on the backside of the pyramid. Second, enterprise help organisations play a essential function in advancing group-based entrepreneurship. Lastly, there’s a compelling want for such organisations and a enterprise case for Corporates to become involved. These factors are greatest illustrated by way of the expertise of Akuyoma Amaimo, one other OKOBI-inspired, group-owned enterprise.
The founding members of Akuyoma Amaimo are professionals from the Outdated Amaimo group in Ikeduru, LGA, Imo State, who recognised the financial and social alternatives inside the OKOBI mannequin. The founding members embrace an accountant, engineer, lawyer, physician, entrepreneur, and lecturers primarily based throughout Africa, Europe, and Australia. The title Akuyoma Amaimo loosely interprets to “aku ruo ulo” within the native dialect. It serves as a reminder to members to carry residence their numerous types of capital: human capital (data, expertise, and experience gained overseas), monetary capital (cash and different monetary sources), mental capital (concepts and improvements), and social capital (networks and relationships).
Akuyoma was initially envisioned as a “personal fairness enterprise” to serve companies in the area people. Whereas its main purpose is to offer funds, it injects different types of capital to make sure the success of the companies it invests in. A essential situation they stipulate is that the enterprise should both be situated in Amaimo or its main promoters should be indigenes of Amaimo.
This focus is rooted within the perception that entrepreneurship and financial development can contribute to the peace and safety of their group alongside its financial growth. In doing so, their enterprise mannequin immediately addresses a number of UN Sustainable Improvement Objectives by combining skilled experience with native entrepreneurship to create sustainable financial alternatives, scale back inequalities, and construct efficient partnerships for growth. Their deal with rural enterprise growth significantly targets poverty discount by way of sustainable livelihoods.
For the reason that formation of Akuyoma, the organisation has realised that the foremost problem for companies of their focus space isn’t just entry to finance however the organisational expertise required to run these companies as sustainable enterprises.
This perception led them to pivot in direction of creating a enterprise help arm—alongside their unique concept of offering capital to companies powering their rural financial system. Embedded in Caje’s story is a advice for a enterprise help guide—a element many might have neglected. Our findings point out that this guide was a useful resource from the enterprise help arm of Akuyoma. Drawing from their expertise working with the Duruewuru Enterprise Enterprise—of which Caje has turn out to be the poster youngster—they now have a proof of idea for “enterprise support-as-a-service” for rising companies in rural communities.
Nonetheless, right here is the problem: companies like Caje’s don’t—and might’t—match into the enterprise mannequin of standard consulting companies. The consulting companies they require bringing folks collectively and educating them, constructing belief, formalising their efforts, guaranteeing they’ve the appropriate monetary infrastructure, and crafting a marketing strategy—all for little or no payment.
This requires a special enterprise logic totally. As an instance this problem, international locations like Germany have recognised the necessity for such help and now supply the Africa Recommendation Voucher, offering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with monetary help for advisory companies aimed toward market entry in Africa. The message right here is to not examine governments and their insurance policies however to spotlight that Africa is a beautiful marketplace for the broader world. For perspective, if Imo had been a rustic in Europe, its inhabitants of 5.5 million would make it the twenty sixth most populous nation, bigger than Eire and corresponding to Nordic nations like Denmark, Finland, or Norway. This provides Imo State a sizeable, addressable market ripe for growth.
What’s most fascinating, nonetheless, is that Akuyoma shouldn’t be ready for the federal government at hand them vouchers to develop this market. As a substitute, they’ve drawn on their expertise and social capital to develop a enterprise help arm. By doing so, Akuyoma intends to supply a pure avenue for partnerships with companies in search of to make a significant affect in rising markets. Somewhat than merely offering one-off monetary donations, corporations can spend money on capacity-building efforts and help long-term, sustainable companies like Caje’s.
To do that, they want companies that perceive this market. This method aligns with the rising development of strategic company philanthropy, the place companies search to create worth for his or her shareholders and the communities by which they function. That is one other space that my colleagues at TNI are presently articulating by way of their work on OKOBI as a company group growth technique.
They envision that, by way of partnerships with Akuyoma and different enterprise help organisations devoted to underserved markets, company donors may present monetary capital, mentorship, and entry to international markets for cooperatives. In return, these corporations can profit from optimistic model associations, elevated market entry, and the flexibility to satisfy international sustainability targets.
This aligns with SDG 17 and makes Akuyoma and comparable organisations engaging companions for firms in search of to exhibit a significant dedication to international growth whereas creating new markets. Moreover, by supporting community-level enterprise development, companies contribute to poverty alleviation (SDG1) and improve their worth chains by constructing extra resilient, self-sustaining native economies (SDGs 8 and 11).
In conclusion, the story of Akuyoma is a compelling case for professionals and corporates to faucet into the OKOBI motion. It underscores the significance of enterprise help organisations in driving profitable group-based entrepreneurship fashions like OKOBI.
It’s a story of numerous professionals coming collectively, pooling their numerous types of capital, and creating one thing that advantages the people concerned and the broader group. The success of such initiatives serves as a strong testomony to the concept that when folks carry their numerous types of capital residence, they’ll rework lives and create lasting socio-economic change.
Amaeshi is a Fellow at The New Institute, Hamburg, Germany.
