The private sector has long been the catalyst for development, tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues – from poverty and disease to climate change and unemployment. There is no doubt that the private sector greatly complements the government’s efforts to bring about change and development in our society.
At the core of the private sector are entrepreneurs who are the actual innovators and many of us belong to the school of thought that these entrepreneurs exist to solve problems. They take risks, assemble teams, and navigate business uncertainty to bring new products and services to the people. This agility, contrasted with slow and bureaucratic processes characteristic of public institutions, allows entrepreneurs to be the main drivers of development.
Take the example of a cold storage business that enables farmers to reduce post-harvest losses, or a mobile Health platform that breaks the barriers of geography and cost to make healthcare services more accessible and affordable to marginalized communities. Such businesses not only generate income for the entrepreneurs, but also solve societal problems such as unemployment and poverty, and in turn contribute to the socio-economic growth of the country.
Challenges facing SMEs in Kenya
In Kenya and many other developing economies, access to capital is the biggest challenge stifling the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). And even when the capital is available, the high cost of financing – in the form of high interest rates – makes it harder for SMEs to realise their growth potential and impact. The challenge in accessing finance is compounded by the government’s own need for funding to deliver essential services to citizens. Recently, the government of Kenya issued an infrastructure bond with interest rates as high as 18%, which are attractive to investors and banks seeking safer and stable returns. As a result, many investors and banks are incentivized to channel their investments to safer and high-yielding government bonds as opposed to lending to SMEs which are often deemed more risky despite their overall contribution to the economy and development.
Unlike large enterprises, SMEs adapt quickly to changing market demands, delivering goods and services to consumers in faster and more efficient and sustainable ways. Their agility also fosters innovation, with their founders constantly seeking new solutions and technologies to improve their offerings. In addition, SMEs contribute significantly to economic prosperity by creating jobs, fostering local entrepreneurship, and generating tax revenue for the country. However, this impact can further be amplified when SMEs integrate faith into their operations, prioritizing not just profit but also social impact and ethical practices. Such enterprises – often called Kingdom businesses – reflect faith-driven entrepreneurship as they sustain a local vision of the church, glorifying God, advancing His kingdom, and eliminating societal vices such as corruption, greed, and inequality.
Redefining Faith-driven Entrepreneurship
In Kenya, Kingdom businesses have traditionally been viewed as those that are actively involved in the ministry, where for example a media production company supports the church in spreading the gospel to more Christians, or where a publishing house produces Christian books and literature for schools and other institutions. However, Kingdom business should also be viewed from their impact on communities in terms of alleviating suffering, creating employment opportunities, contributing to environmental sustainability, serving underserved communities, contributing to a more inclusive society, and perhaps more importantly, the values and practices they inculcate.
The dimension of faith-driven entrepreneurship is relatively new in Kenya and around the world, as there is a widespread perception that businesses are there to create profit only, that business is business, and that churches, charities and non-profits are supposed to do good. However, we continue to see the impact of the world’s top talents who are entrepreneurs driven by their faith in tackling the world’s biggest problems through their businesses.
Whereas charity is an advancement of God’s ministry, its impact is often immediate but with limited long-term results. An enterprise may participate in a cause that is aligned with their faith, such as engaging in a clean-up exercise or providing donations to poor families in informal settlements, but this often falls short of creating a more sustainable solution. In contrast, consider an enterprise involved in waste management that supports the local vision by employing these families in informal settlements. This alternative approach creates a more sustainable and impactful solution as it promotes not just earth restoration, but also enables the community to live healthy and fulfilled lives, providing jobs and income that empower individuals and families to lift themselves out of poverty. The approach epitomizes our calling as believers: to take up our talents and skills and create sustainable businesses that bring heaven to earth.
Supporting Faith-driven Entrepreneurship in Kenya
Kingdom businesses often require support that is different from traditional businesses due to their unique nature of integrating faith into their business practices. The dimension of faith involves actively embracing Christian teachings and values across the entire spectrum of the business – from hiring practices and employee treatment to product development and customer service. This holistic approach has been the focus of our work at Kua Ventures since we established in Kenya in 2020. First, we acknowledge that faith-driven enterprises require capital that is aligned with their values and mission. Our intervention ensures that such enterprises access tailored and affordable capital of between $50,000 and $100,000 to scale their operations, expand their reach and make a lasting Kingdom impact.
Beyond capital, founders of faith-driven enterprises require strategic guidance and mentorship to support their desire to not separate their personal faith from their business practices. This can be seen through their ethical sourcing practices, servant leadership, fair labour policies while keeping the business compliant and above board. Kua Ventures matches faith-driven founders with local and international entrepreneur mentors who share the same faith-driven values, and help the founders to rediscover their purpose as God’s stewards, navigate business obstacles and create a difference in the lives of their employees and communities.
Founders of faith-driven enterprises also benefit from being in a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, where they network, share their entrepreneurial journey and experiences, and fellowship. The Kua Ventures portfolio – consisting of 20+ diverse Kingdom businesses – receive community support through quarterly workshops, hangouts and other networking events. Building such a strong and vibrant community of faith-driven entrepreneurs has enabled us to promote a sense of belonging among the founders, in addition to promoting collaboration in Kingdom activities.
Leveraging partnerships in the faith-driven ecosystem
Supporting faith-driven entrepreneurship requires more than just capital. It also needs an ecosystem where faith-driven enterprises can access resources to thrive. There are still very few support organizations that focus on faith-driven enterprises, a sharp contrast with the Christian population which, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), stood at 85% in 2019. Recently, Kua Ventures joined hands with Faith Driven Entrepreneur (FDE), Sinapis, Resource Global, Christian Business Angels (CBA), among other faith-driven Enterprise Support Organizations (ESOs) to promote a coordinated effort towards supporting Kingdom businesses. Whereas the coalition is still in the infant stage, it promises to catalyze small and growing faith-driven enterprises to flourish holistically and positively impact the nation.
At Kua Ventures, we see founders of faith-driven enterprises as stewards of God’s resources (Psalms 24:1). They are called by God to use their talents and abilities to create value for others, and impact the Kingdom. Therefore, supporting faith-driven enterprises to achieve their mission provides a means of catalyzing positive change within the communities and advancing God’s Kingdom.