PARTICIPANT ROUNDTABLE EVENTS
INTRODUCTION
A key takeaway from the successful Fund participant learning event held on 22 February 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya was that deeper, in-country sharing sessions would benefit participants and Mastercard Foundation teams. As a result, the Fund designed roundtable events in three of the Foundation’s focus countries: Ghana, Rwanda and Uganda.
FOCUS
These events were focused on:
- providing an opportunity for the Fund Management team to share the Fund journey, impact and learnings over the Fund journey with the Foundation’s country teams and their implementing partners.
- providing an opportunity for Fund participants to share their impact stories, learnings and in-depth information on their business models and adaptions for resilience
- giving Fund participants an opportunity to invite beneficiaries to directly share their insights
- providing an opportunity for Fund participants to share their plans beyond the Fund support.
- giving the Foundation team and their implementing partners an opportunity to engage with the Fund team and Fund participants; to gain insights and possibly consider future collaborations.
Ghana Roundtable event
The Fund held the first-round table event on 17 May 2023 in Accra, Ghana. The event brought together the Fund participants in Ghana; Syecomp, Farmerline and Prep-eez Technology. Also in attendance were the Foundation country team; various Foundation implementing partners (such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Global Shea Alliance, IDH and Consultants, and the Fund Management team.
The Fund Management team was represented by the Program Coordinator, Grace Mberia, Communications Manager, Nashipae Leteipan and the Grants and Finance Senior Associate, Winfred Kinuthia. They explained the Fund journey since inception, including highlighting Fund objectives, competitions managed, the Fund portfolio, participant support, learnings and impact.
Fund participants shared their knowledge on their business models, how these evolved over the Fund period and how they allowed the participants to grow resilience. They also shared some of their plans for the future.
Uganda Roundtable event
The second roundtable event was held on 23 May 2023 in Kampala, Uganda. The event brought together Fund participants in Uganda - FutureLink Technologies, SolarNow, Ibero Uganda, Compuscan and Olam Uganda. Also present were the Foundation’s country team, Fund Management team, and some of the Foundation implementing partners such as Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Asigma Capital, NSSF and Gnugrid CRB.
The Fund Management team was represented by the Fund Engagement Partner, Smita Sanghrajka, Program Coordinator, Grace Mberia, Grants Manager, Wilson Irungu and Grants and Finance Associate, Felix Muia.
The Mastercard Foundation Uganda country team interacted with Fund participants and emphasized the need for more collaboration. Judith Erone, Partner, KPMG Uganda, gave the closing remarks and lauded the participants for their contribution to the overall Fund achievements in improving financial inclusion.
Rwanda Roundtable event
The third and final roundtable event was held on 8 June 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda. The event was scheduled in two parts with the morning session dedicated to the Fund Management team taking the Mastercard Foundation Rwanda team through the objectives and journey of the Fund, portfolio impact and key learnings since inception. The afternoon session saw Fund participant, Rwanda Trading Company (RTC), share their business model, impact and plans. The Fund team represented another Ugandan participant Enviu.
The Fund Program Coordinator, Grace Mberia, Grants Manager, Wilson Irungu and Communications Manager, Nashipae Leteipan represented the Fund Management team at the event. The Mastercard Foundation team was well represented including presence and participation by Rica Rwigamba, Mastercard Foundation Rwanda Country Director. Key Foundation partners also attended the event including WFP, I&M Bank (Rwanda), Rugori Investment Network, Urwego Bank, AMIR, Duhamic ADRI, Vanguard Economics, GroFin, AFR and Vanguard Economics. Team representatives from KPMG Rwanda were also in attendance.
SUMMARY
The roundtable events were successful in providing deeper opportunities for stakeholders to engage directly, to share important country-specific learnings and insights with each other, and to discuss future collaboration, particularly in the presence of in-country Foundation team members and partners. Ultimately, the agenda of such collaborations remains to support the sustainability and resilience of Fund-supported projects beyond the Fund.