Earlier this year we took a group of philanthropists and partners to visit some of the social businesses in our portfolio in Uganda including Godson Commodities, Impact Water&Tugende. We also visited Kenya to see some of our pipeline companies. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet not only with the social entrepreneurs, but with the people whose lives have been changed with the products, services and higher incomes that the social businesses provide.
We live in a world where giants like Uber and Amazon are disrupting logistics and pushing the boundaries between reality and science fiction.
Social entrepreneurs are incredibly busy people - but it’s important for them to take time out of the day-to-day to reflect and learn from each other. It’s not only fundamental to finance social entrepreneurs but to develop an eco-system where businesses focussed on impact are both supported and celebrated.
Impact Water have reached 1,000,000 children in Uganda with clean drinking water. And the best bit? They aren’t a charity but a pioneering social business.