Connecting the Unconnected: COVIDaction Capacity Building Support for Offline Communities in Africa
Capacity building workshops for local producers in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda
Underserved communities with limited or no internet connectivity continue to face bottlenecks to growth. The extension of COVIDaction assistance to offline production communities brought hope to local producers in three communities (across Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda) who often feel excluded from support often shared to digitally-enabled innovators with access to the internet and other enabling platforms.
Why this support?
In 2020, COVIDaction’s Local Production and Local Solutions (LPLS) theme teamed up with AfriLabs to scout viable offline applications/solutions from local producers in seven (7) target countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, and South Sudan. The offline scouting exercise brought to light several capacity gaps across local production communities in Africa, highlighting the local innovators’ need for capacity-building initiatives, support with resources, and access to markets to scale their innovations and businesses.
Another key insight from the scouting exercise was that grassroots producers lacked confidence in stakeholders who provide funding and other opportunities. Some local producers were reluctant to share data or ideas due to legitimate intellectual property (IP) infringement concerns while others had previously received no support at all and were wary of offers as they received limited to no outreach from them in the past.
The team decided that it will be particularly useful to provide capacity building training and technical support in an offline / face to face format using support hubs dubbed ‘Offline Support Hubs’ to address the challenges these local producers experience.
AfriLabs’ lead on this assignment was crucial because of the organisation’s:
- vast network of technology/innovation hubs across the African continent and the Diaspora
- experience and expertise in supporting local innovations through the AfriLabs network
- position to leverage its existing pipeline of innovation hubs that are resident in the target offline communities in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda. Selected hubs were:
- FabLab Winam — Kisumu, Kenya
- Impact Hub Lagos — Lagos, Nigeria
- Makerere Innovation and Incubation Centre (MIIC) — Kampala, Uganda.
Results we wanted to see
Local producers in various offline communities were already at a great disadvantage prior to the COVID-19 pandemic due to little, no, or expensive access to internet services. The pandemic further widened the access gap to training, resources and support to build the capacity of these local producers, with virtual engagement at all levels.
Bringing the required training and support to these local producers in their local community and context was the best way to go. The support tackled some identified key need areas and assisted the local producers in improving their production processes and scaling techniques by building the required skills to increase:
- resilience to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and similar scenarios.
- confidence in growing their businesses.
- knowledge of local support systems and networks.
- self-reliance to lower concerns about competing businesses.
- understanding of inputs and outputs with direct control within their businesses.
The capacity building support targeted 30 offline ventures — 10 per offline support hub — to engage in the training and support. This number was selected because the initiative was a pilot project and also to allow for COVID-19 safety protocols.
Areas of capacity building support
The capacity building training was slated to run for a duration of five working days per offline support hub. As a result, we made an informed decision (based on the needs assessment of local producers led by AfriLabs and input from a previous offline scouting exercise) of priority areas that need basic support and would directly lead to the greatest impact on the production and distribution process, team, finance management, and expansion of local products.
The training focused on nine key areas
What we learned
To evaluate the success of the initiative we developed five key performance indicators (KPIs) — resilience, confidence, knowledge, self-reliance, and understanding. Along those axes, key areas of insights were garnered through conducting the sessions and feedback shared from the offline capacity building support.
1. Resilience — There is a need to build the resilience of local producers by enhancing their ability to withstand the effects of COVID-19 restrictions and similar future scenarios.
The impact of COVID-19 and the limitations that came with it cannot be overstated, especially with regard to the availability of local products. The number one identified support area ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship in a Crisis’ provided local producers with the knowledge and skills to adapt, withstand and then innovate during unstable times.
“It was such an invaluable experience that changed the way in which I viewed my business.”
- Rasheed Oluwakemi, BK Fashion, Training Participant.
2. Confidence — Boosting the confidence of offline producers will increase their drive to grow their businesses.
It is important to boost the confidence of local offline innovators who already lack faith and assurance in stakeholders to extend support programmes to them, while they also feel ‘inferior’ to their more digitally-enabled counterparts who have access to the internet and platforms where opportunities are shared. Increasing the confidence of offline producers will drive them to become more aggressive in developing their startups and products. Their increased effort will also give them more courage to brand and sell their products/services to potential customers, funders and investors, thereby improving the culture, revenue and impact of their businesses and outputs.
“The capacity building training was life-changing. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this program and I’m truly excited to go back and apply all the skills I’ve learned”
- Marian Abidemi, Marian Fashion Designs, Training Participant.
3. Knowledge — It is important to improve the knowledge of local producers on available support systems, opportunities and networks.
Most offline producers are unaware of existing support opportunities that are available within their communities while others lack access to pathways for reaching available opportunities. It is important to create awareness of available opportunities and guide local producers through the process. During the COVIDaction LPLS capacity building training, top government officials and other support providers were invited to address the participants and share information on existing support for innovators and entrepreneurs.
In Kisumu for instance, Mrs. Mary Kalerwa, Deputy Director of Industries, Kenya Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development was invited to address local producers. She provided perspectives on the Kenyan government’s preparedness to aid local innovators and entrepreneurs post-COVID-19. She also shed light on some existing government support programmes that local producers could take advantage of while she also pledged her availability and support for the local producers through FabLab Winam, the innovation hub that hosted the session.
“It has really been massive and I have acquired a lot”
- Nantongo Jackeline, Boss baking world and Jackie’s closet, Training Participant.
Officials/government representatives that were present during the offline capacity building include Patrick J. Mugisha (Moogy), Assistant Commissioner, Innovation & Intellectual Property Management, Ministry of Science, Technology & Innovation, Uganda, and Belinda Ilagosa, Patent Examiner from the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI). KIPI is the authorised body to register and supervise all intellectual property matters in Kenya.
“It was an amazing experience, I honestly never knew I would leave the training with so much knowledge”
- Oghale Egweni, Unicmekky Ventures, Training Participant.
4. Self-reliance — Lowering the concerns of local producers about competing businesses increases their self-reliance.
To decrease concerns over the impact of competing businesses, it is important to build the capacity of local producers, grow their abilities to build quality products and services, and help them rely on their internal strength to make them thrive in the market.
“This knowledge is very good in marketing and customer development by developing strategic plans”
- Kizza Ruth Anne, Bukoto Friendly and Fashion Designers, Training Participant.
5. Understanding — Improving the understanding of local producers on inputs and outputs for positive growth.
It is important that local producers have a clear understanding of the inputs and outputs they can control within their businesses. This will provide clarity and direction for their business operations and lead to operational efficiency and scaling of their businesses/organisations.
“At my age, I never thought I would be afforded an opportunity to learn and gain knowledge and understanding regarding how to run my business“
- Eze Peter Godwin, Eze Group, Training Participant.
6. Circular Economy sectors and COVID-19 solutions
Another key insight from the LPLS offline capacity building support is the diversity of participating ventures in the spectrum of the circular economy in line with COVID-19 solutions as represented below.
- PPE — 3D-printed face shields, washable masks, and coveralls with a broad range of innovative approaches.
- Sanitation — pivoting towards sanitiser and disinfectant manufacturing, as well as washing facilities in various contexts.
- Food & Agriculture — both consumer-side and producer-side approaches to filling gaps.
- Repair & Maintenance — proper preservation of equipment and replacing spare parts vital to sustainable local systems.
- Automated Technology — building of equipment to run automatically and perform work processes efficiently without physical touch and at a low error rate.
A big thanks to the Offline Support Hubs, participating ventures and stakeholders
The COVIDaction LPLS offline community support wouldn’t have been possible without the hands-on support from the Offline Support Hubs who were on the ground to support the execution of the workshops. Below is a summary of the Offline Support Hubs and the number of ventures supported.
A very big thank you to these amazing hubs, esteemed government representatives, and the participating ventures who were very dedicated to their participation in the workshops.
What is unique about this model?
Extending COVIDaction’s call for applications and support to local producers who aren’t connected to the internet and providing them with an equal opportunity as their advanced counterparts is a unique approach in driving the inclusion of underserved innovation communities in support programmes. This support model is a pilot for local producers in Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda, and while we only scratched the surface through this pilot, we have learnt that there is a huge possibility and need for more of this support model to be deployed across other locations and regions. Another unique aspect of this model is the extension of the support beyond the 5-day training as there was a provision for ongoing support by admitting the participating local producers into their respective Offline Support Hub’s community, giving the participants continued access to further training, capacity building resources and funding opportunities.
What next?
We are pleased with the success of this pilot and we strongly encourage other stakeholders in the sector to adopt and implement more of this support while we’ll be happy to share more information and make available free resources to support the furtherance of the development of last-mile communities. If you are interested in running an offline support project and need our guidance, please reach out to our teams:
Ben Oldfrey, COVIDaction LPLS Team Lead — b.oldfrey@ucl.ac.uk
Patrick Ashu, Programmes Manager, AfriLabs — patrick@afrilabs.com.
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