October 2021: AlphaMundi Group and AlphaMundi Foundation are pleased to announce a recently launched partnership with Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), the German Development Finance Institution and a subsidiary of KfW group, through their develoPPP program. The partnership will advance gender equity among East African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by supporting the implementation of gender-smart business principles that empower female staff and clients and cultivate the next generation of female entrepreneurs in the region.

As a gender lens investor, AlphaMundi seeks to embed gender into the DNA of companies across their business models. By intervening early with targeted gender-smart technical assistance (TA), AlphaMundi can support companies as they build equitable systems and structures and incorporate women to a larger extent across service offerings and in product design, manufacturing and distribution.

“We are grateful for this new partnership with DEG, which will allow AlphaMundi to build upon our Foundation’s pioneer work related to SDG5 and enhance our productive collaboration with Value for Women. The develoPPP program will help us expand our gender advocacy in Africa in parallel with the regional development of our SocialAlpha and AlphaJiri funds, creating a new set of gender-driven growth opportunities for our portfolio companies and their numerous stakeholders.“ Tim Radjy, Founder and Managing Partner, AlphaMundi Group

AlphaMundi will work closely with nonprofit sister organization AlphaMundi Foundation and implementing partner Value for Women to identify and execute targeted gender-smart technical assistance with 5-7 SMEs in the region, with a focus on improving financial and social performance outcomes. By 2023, the team expects to positively impact more than 350 employees (including 150+ female staff), 7,500 direct clients, and over 30,000 family members who will benefit from products and services provided by the SMEs participating in this initiative. The team will also facilitate a network of senior leadership from participating SMEs and alumni from past gender-smart projects to continue sharing key insights and replicable tools that can extend beyond the life of this program.

“At Value for Women, we are excited by this opportunity to continue working with our long-standing partner, AlphaMundi to help more of their investees adopt gender smart strategies.   Building on our ‘business-first, gender smart’ approach, the collaboration will allow us to share data and learning to further advance the case for gender inclusion for SMEs in the region.” – Rebecca Fries, CEO & Founding Director, Value for Women

Backed by expertise and funds, DEG and AlphaMundi look forward to collaborating on their shared mission to scale private investment in emerging markets for development impact. By demonstrating a business case for targeted gender-smart assistance, this project offers an innovative way to catalyze more private sector capital that empowers women and addresses gender equity.

“Through the implementation of the gender-smart business principles among East African SMEs, this develoPPP project will make an important contribution to achieving gender equality and empowering women – a priority for international and German development policy and a core aspect of the 2030 Agenda.”  – Dr. Lars Oehler, Project Manager for Development Programs, DEG