This month, Shift Impact Africa and the Shared Value Africa Initiative officially open an office in Kenya, in collaboration with Africa Jobs Work (AJW Africa). The partnership was established to strengthen and grow the Shared Value community, as well as increase the membership and client base, not only in Kenya but also in East Africa.

AJW Africa is an advisory and consulting firm that aims to “create sustainable, decent, meaningful employment for the youth of Africa”. Under the leadership of Jane Mwangi, who is also a board member of the SVAI, AJW services include developing models for corporates and foundations to undertake sustainable, scalable and replicable interventions that create higher profitability to businesses and greater societal impact to communities – creating Shared Value.

AJW Africa works with like-minded organisations in helping them put their purpose into practice by facilitating the process of ideation, design, fundraising and execution of Shared Value initiatives (products and programmes).

Jane Mwangi and Daisy Maritim from AJW at the 2021 Africa Shared Value Leadership Summit

Kenya is home to SVAI’s biggest network, after South Africa. With relationships growing in Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia, Kenya is the perfect base from which the East African network can be strengthened, through membership and related engagements, training as well as consultancy services. The 2022 Africa Shared Value Leadership Summit, which will be hosted in Rwanda (25-26 October), further entrenches the SVAI’s focus on this region.

AJW delivers on its vision through innovative, comprehensive solutions that uplift, upskill and ensure work for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students, university graduates and entrepreneurs. In doing so, AJW creates a solution for youth unemployment, which is rife across the continent, and provides a supporting ecosystem to guide entrepreneurs on their journey to becoming sustainable and thriving businesses. AJW Africa offers support to this network through capacity building and backend support until these beneficiaries can be self-sustaining.

Strategic alignment with the advisory work of Shift Impact Africa, the advocacy of SVAI, and training by the Shared Value Africa Academy, is evident in not only the work that these organisations do, but also the shared purpose that drives this collective – to contribute to the betterment of African business and society.

SVAI and AJW Africa’s strategic focus on economic growth, and in particular the support of SMMEs, offers opportunity to grow both organisations’ work in this area.

Through this partnership, members and clients can expect accomplished expertise to help them deliver on their purpose through business strategy and implementation.