International NGOs that Support Business

Non governmental organisations are part of a broader international community which seeks to stimulate socio-economic development. Some of these organisations, along with development agencies and finance institutions adopt a range of different approaches that specifically assist the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

What is an NGO?

An NGO or a Non Governmental Organization is an association that functions for the benefit of civil society. These groups belong to the civic or community sector as they do not represent any form of government or private institution. Unlike business companies, NGO’s operate on a non-profit basis similar to a charity. Most NGO’s are funded by grants given by a specific foundation or entity. This means than any funds generated by the organization are re-absorbed to further the aims of the initiative. Other common names used to refer to NGO’s include non-profit organisation, independent sector and civil society organization.

What does an NGO do?

NGO’s address humanitarian issues through careful utilization of their grants. They focus on development projects to support and assist people in society. NGOs are consequently active in a broad range of areas. They can be community secific or international Many international NGOs are involved in major humanitarian concerns such as campaigning against human rights abuses like Amnesty International, or providing medical supplies and services like Medecins Sans Frontieres. In this way, the objectives of NGOs may differ dependent on the type of work they do. For example, an NGO may be geared towards, research, relief, service provision, advocacy or participation oriented programmes. These projects are managed and implemented to aid and advance local people. They promote awareness, educate and inform. Regardless of the type of field an NGO may be in, they share a common purpose to do good in the world.

How can an NGO support your business?

Over the past few decades NGOs have increasingly gained momentum as influential movements. This has led to an increased amount of international organizations working in different parts of the world, particularly developing countries. There are a number of international NGO’s which focus on business development objectives and entrepreneur programmes.  These NGO’s adopt a broad range of approaches in an attempt to grow businessess, support SMEs and develop entrepreneurs. Some aim to provide necessary resources to foster entrepreneurial spirit while others assist through knowledge exchange. A dynamic NGO, The Grameen Foundation is involved in the Sinapi Aba Trust in Ghana. This is one of the largest microfinance instiutions in Ghana. It helps entrepreneurs by providing access to micro loans for small scale business. This foundation assisted Akousa, a young entrepreneur in Ghana, to take out a micro loan to start a trading store in her area. After years of selling from door to door, she now runs a small kiosk selling fish, tomatoes, eggplant, and other items.

How to find NGOs in the Africa Report Directory

As in the above example, many NGO’s work in partnership with other organisations such as development finance institutions, donor  agencies and social enterprises. Together, these groups design interventions to help meet the challenges of starting and growing a business in developing economies.

The following list contains a number of examples of NGOs, social enterprises and finance institutions that support entrepreneurs through various development programmes.

• African Agricultural Capital (AAC)

  AAC venture capital investment fund is specifically created to invest in small and medium-sized agriculture-related businesses in East Africa.This organisation focuses on providing farmers with improved access to market opportunities. It focuses on early stage businesses where risk capital is needed and where high long term investment returns can be generated.

• Kickstart

  KickStart is an organisation that believes self-motivated private entrepreneurs managing small-scale enterprises can play a dynamic role in the economies of developing countries. This organisation develops and promotes technologies that can be used by dynamic entrepreneurs to establish and run profitable small scale enterprises.

• Business Council for Peace

  Bpeace is a non-profit international volunteer network of business professionals. In countries emerging from war, particularly Afghanistan and Rwanda, volunteers of Bpeace work to help women entrepreneurs expand their businesses, create employment and build a peaceful future for their communities.

  
  

• The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

  The IFAD, a specialized agency of the United Nations, is as an international financial institution. Working with rural poor people, governments, donors, non-governmental organizations and many other partners, IFAD focuses on country-specific solutions, which can involve increasing rural poor peoples’ access to financial services, markets, technology, land and other natural resources.

To explore more organisations that assist business development, visit our directory at the top of the homepage. Listed under Resources under ‘Finance’ or ‘Assistance’ you can browse the directory to find organisations that may do work specific to your entrepreneurial needs. Click here for a direct link to the directory.