All Publications

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  Replication of Intellecap’s Ecosystem Based Approach in East Africa

  PUBLISHED: July, 2018

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• 

  The Financial Lives of Government Employees – Potential of Digital Finance in Sierra Leone

  PUBLISHED: July, 2018

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• 

  South South Collaboration: Corridors for shared prosperity

  PUBLISHED: June, 2018

  Tags: Entrepreneurship, Agriculture, Health

  Region: Asia, Africa

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• 

  Nudging The Investment Ecosystem By Incentivizing Impact

  PUBLISHED: June, 2018

  READ MORE
• 

  Intellecap Lighthouse: An anthology of ideas and insights

  PUBLISHED: June, 2018

  Tags: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Gender, Multi-sector

  READ MORE
• 

  Catalyst for Change: Creating an ecosystem for young entrepreneurs from East Africa

  PUBLISHED: June, 2018

  Tags: Health, Energy, Agriculture, Livelihoods

  Region: Africa

  READ MORE
• 

  5TH SANKALP AFRICA SUMMIT – POST EVENT REPORT

  PUBLISHED: April, 2018

  Tags: Access, Affordable, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Health, Agriculture, Financial Services, Livelihoods, Energy, Strategy Alliances

  Region: Africa

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• 

  Private sector solutions to helping smallholders succeed : social enterprise business models in the agriculture sector

  PUBLISHED: March, 2018

  Tags: Agriculture, Value Chain, Entrepreneurship

  Region: Asia

  READ MORE
• 

  FINTREK: Exploring new frontiers in fintech investments in East Africa 2018

  PUBLISHED: March, 2018

  Tags: Financial Services

  Region: Africa

  READ MORE
• 

  Reducing post-harvest losses in India: Key initiatives and opportunities

  PUBLISHED: February, 2018

  Tags: Agriculture, Entrepreneurship

  Region: Asia

  READ MORE


Replication of Intellecap’s Ecosystem Based Approach in East Africa
PUBLISHED: July, 2018
Intellecap has sought to replicate its ecosystem-based approach to East Africa by bringing
together capital, knowledge and networks to support SGBs at two levels: (i) provide direct support
to SGBs in the form of acceleration, fund-raising, technical assistance, innovation transfer, and
market linkages, and (ii) discover and engage critical ecosystem players such as corporations
(both local and international), accelerators, other development sector players in supporting SGBs.
In the three-year period since the launch of our initiative to replicate our ecosystem-based
approach for accelerating entrepreneurship support to SGBs in East Africa, we have received
generous support not only from our funders, but also from a number of local and international stakeholders such as development institutions, private sector entities, and industry associations.
Over the last year, we have replicated our advocacy platform (Sankalp), angel investment network
(I3N) advisory services (consulting & investment banking), virtual incubation platform
(StartupWave) and impact measurement platform (PRISM) as envisaged at the beginning of our
programmatic support. The development and adaptation of StartupWave for East Africa has
resulted in over 450 sign-ups for our early stage enterprise support activities and partnerships with
over 30 incubators / accelerators. Similarly, PRISM, our impact measurement platform, has
garnered interest from a wide variety of players to measure the impact of their programs.
Download Pdf Here


The Financial Lives of Government Employees – Potential of Digital Finance in Sierra Leone
PUBLISHED: July, 2018
This report documents findings from research on the financial lives of government employees in Sierra Leone, commissioned by the Government to People Payments Project – Building Digital Ecosystem funded by USAID. Intellecap supported UNCDF, Government of Sierra Leone and Bank of Sierra Leone for conducting the research.
There are 80,000 government employees in Sierra Leone who receive salaries digitally in their bank accounts. Insights about their financial lives can help build a viable business case for DFS to expand access to a wide range of financial services for underserved communities in Sierra Leone. Such insights can inform strategies and use cases that the UNCDF and the Government of Sierra Leone can develop to promote DFS in the country. The National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2017 – 2020 also refers to the need to identify and digitize use cases that will lead to habitual usage, and achieve Sierra Leone’s commitments to the ‘Better Than Cash Alliance’.
Recognizing the need and opportunity, UNCDF supported the Financial Lives Survey of government employees who receive their salaries digitally in Sierra Leone. Intellecap designed the survey to understand how government employees utilize salaries transferred into their bank accounts, their awareness of and access to DFS, avenues to use them and their perceptions about financial services and digital financial transactions. This report contains insights from the survey about potential customers of DFS and recommendations on use cases that could be piloted as an initial step to improve DFS adoption in Sierra Leone.
Download Pdf Here


South South Collaboration: Corridors for shared prosperity
PUBLISHED: June, 2018
This assessment was conducted and document written for the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
by Intellectual Capital Advisory Services (Intellecap).
disclaimer
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives.
We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing
private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. This report was commissioned by IFC through its Inclusive Business Models Group, which is leading efforts to promote inclusive business across IFC by catalyzing ideas and innovation; convening IFC clients, investment professionals and leading thinkers on inclusive business; and communicating which models work, and generating and disseminating knowledge on best practices.
The conclusions and judgments contained in this report should not be attributed to, and do not necessarily represent the views of, IFC or its Board of Directors or the World Bank or its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. IFC and the World Bank do not guarantee the accuracy of the data in this publication and accept no responsibility for any consequences
of their use.
Resources: Additional knowledge resources that use the framework as a foundation to create actionable insights have also been created. These include a deep-dive report, detailed case studies and a downloadable toolkit comprising of a self-diagnostic tool and checklists. The 11 case studies of successful business model transfers can be accessed here. Please find the technical notes here and the toolkit for entrepreneurs evaluating expansion into Africa here.
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Nudging The Investment Ecosystem By Incentivizing Impact
PUBLISHED: June, 2018
Opportunities in Incentivizing Impact in Financing Small and Growing Businesses in Developing & Emerging Markets
This paper is a summary of fresh ideas on how to channel more capital into impact investing and incentivize impact creation. Building on insights generated by experts at the BMZ hosted conference Financing Global Development – Leveraging Impact Investing for the SDGs, the paper furthers the conversation on Impact Measurement and Management, IMM 2.0, through brainstorming practical ideas and viewpoints in the impact investing value chain: those who provide capital, those who manage it, and those who receive it. This included close to 50 stakeholders, including fund managers, DFIs, intermediaries, entrepreneurs, governments, CSOs and others.
The discussion, conducted in the form of a ‘design lab’ by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Intellecap, and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), aims to start a conversation on how to maximize impact by channeling capital into small and growing businesses (SGBs) as a way to expedite achievement of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). During the session, industry leaders like FMO, Vox Capital, and Roots of Impact had shared case studies of good practices in incentivizing impact along the investment chain. This formed the basis of brainstorming on development of new ideas on innovative instruments that could nudge the ecosystem towards more actively pursuing and scaling impact.
The result is an analysis of the barriers in the impact investment value chain highlighted during the stakeholder conversations, and key insights on how to overcome them (for example, the need for transparency, standardization, leadership, etc.). In addition, the workshop collated a list of potential ‘wild ideas’ to like impact currency, impact rewards, impact index, online market places for impact auctioning, and a give-back distribution impact support system, designed to incentivize increased levels of investment along the value chain. The practical approaches suggested by stakeholders fit well with the existing impact measurement and monitoring frameworks like GIIN’s IRIS and Intellecap’s PRISM and hold the potential to guide impact capital more efficiently by leveraging good practices.
Download Pdf Here


Intellecap Lighthouse: An anthology of ideas and insights
PUBLISHED: June, 2018
Intellecap has been at the forefront of developing insights and shaping new ideas that have benefited
and empowered underserved markets since its inception in 2002.
Along the course of it’s journey, the organization has taken bold initiatives to foray into uncharted
territory and become a key influencer as part of the social impact discourse.
Intellecap has made concerted efforts through its advisory team to capture the most relevant themes
across its key focus sectors, namely Agriculture, Livelihoods, Financial Services, Healthcare and Energy,
and distil them into concrete thought pieces that lend credibility and offer definitive solutions across
key stakeholder groups.
The Intellecap Lighthouse is a culmination of various perspectives and insights from its thought
leaders on topics that demand our attention today, and trends that will capture our imagination in the
future.
Be it the Uberization of financial services, approaches for solving healthcare challenges in low resource
settings, the potential for Agtech in Southeast Asia, or a Special Series collaboration on India in 2050.
This caravan of articles and ideas is meant to help you gain newer insights from the impact sectors
and draw inspiration from the ecosystem we serve. Written by employees both old and new, many of
them have been published by reputed print media, and serve as a testimony to its relevance while being
engaging in thought and appeal.
You can now download this booklet, available in a simple PDF format, and navigate through its myriad
scope of contents. You can also directly go to an article/sector of your choice by clicking on the title in
the index page.
We’ve tried our best to ensure this compilation serves as a useful means of reference and information,
and that with time, The Intellecap Lighthouse will be regarded as a critical piece of commentary on the
state of affairs in the markets we serve, or aspire to serve.
Download Pdf Here


Catalyst for Change: Creating an ecosystem for young entrepreneurs from East Africa
PUBLISHED: June, 2018
Intellecap is a pioneer in providing innovative business solutions that help build and scale profitable and sustainable enterprises
dedicated to social and environmental change. The company’s unique positioning at the intersection of social and commercial business
sectors allows it to attract and nurture intellectual capital that combines the business training of the commercial world with the passion
and commitment of the social world to shape distinctive solutions. Intellecap was founded in 2002 and has more than 100 employees.
Intellecap has worked with more than 60 clients on over 250 engagements across 15 countries.
Download Pdf Here


5TH SANKALP AFRICA SUMMIT – POST EVENT REPORT
PUBLISHED: April, 2018
“The 5th Edition of the Sankalp Africa Summit positively engaged over 1,000 different stakeholders, across the Impact Investing Ecosystem, and deliberated on strategies for building partnerships and collaborations to drive the sustainability and inclusion agenda in Africa. With 100 + Speakers, 30+ Partners, 60+ Sessions and delegates from over 40 countries, it truly was a summit to reckon with, trending at Top 5 on Twitter.
This year’s theme, ‘Open Alliance for a Sustainable & Inclusive Africa 2030’, revolved around the Sustainable Development Goals and how various partners can work with the private sector to achieve these goals. The summit highlighted what has been achieved so far and delved deeper into the untapped opportunities presented by the SDGs in Africa for the entrepreneurs, corporates and the development community.
”
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Private sector solutions to helping smallholders succeed : social enterprise business models in the agriculture sector
PUBLISHED: March, 2018
Smallholder farmers in developing countries face tough challenges to their productivity, growth, and sustainability—including lack of access to affordable financial products, limited knowledge of high-quality inputs, low usage of technology and market data, and poor market links across the value chain. To close these gaps and help smallholder farmers thrive, social enterprises are implementing innovative solutions in the agriculture sector to serve them. Social enterprises are defined as private for-profit, nonprofit, or hybrid organizations that use business methods to advance their social mission. In the case of agriculture, social enterprises often address a particular pain point in the value chain, with the intention that the cost of their services or products will be recuperated by the benefits and income gains that smallholders will achieve. To serve such a “last mile” market, social enterprises will often develop a business model that is innovative, cost-effective, and provides strong value for money in providing quality services and products.The purpose of this book is to showcase the market-based solutions that have proven effective at supporting smallholders and to synthesize the experiences of social enterprises around the world. This book catalogues more than 100 social enterprises, categorized into 9 business models, that cut across the agriculture value chain
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FINTREK: Exploring new frontiers in fintech investments in East Africa 2018
PUBLISHED: March, 2018
PREFACE: With the rapid mobile penetration in emerging economies, FinTech may easily be the buzz word or the flavor of this decade.
While FinTech refers to firms leveraging technology to deliver financial products/services or capabilities to customers or other
financial services firms, it has also carved out its distinct offering to create a full-fledged sector group, complete with its own
service providers, accelerators and market. Once a conduit of the traditional financial service sector, today, FinTech holds
its own as a mainstay service sector.
Download Pdf Here


Reducing post-harvest losses in India: Key initiatives and opportunities
PUBLISHED: February, 2018
Intellecap, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, conducted in-depth research over a period of 5 months on key areas of momentum around post-harvest losses (PHL) in India. This report synthesizes insights from this research and presents the important roles the government, civil society organizations (CSO) and the private sector play in addressing PHL and improving smallholder farmer (SHF) livelihoods.
The report is divided into four main sections dedicated to key phases in the post-harvest value chain. These include harvesting and primary processing; storage and crop protection; processing; and market linkage.
Each section presents an overview of sector-specific activities and identifies key factors affecting PHL, important trends and innovations, as well as opportunities and white spaces to generate social impact. An additional section covers insights around different aggregation models and mechanisms that agriculture sector actors can leverage to reduce PHL and strengthen SHF market access.
Download Pdf Here