New Market Development
Empower innovation, witness transformation
At the nexus of Kumwe Hub’s operational experience and Save the Children’s social infrastructure lies the chance to create, test and refine solutions that give a heartbeat to progress.
We use Save the Children’s existing trust and reach in vulnerable communities to test out market based solutions.
How We Are Developing New Markets
Daycare, Early Childhood Development & Livelihoods
Daycare - Early Childhood Development & Livelihoods
In 2022 Kumwe Hub supported refugees in Mahama Camp to set up a day-care business serving entrepreneurial women who were earning less than men due to childcare responsibilities.
The ‘Itetero’ programme is allowing these mothers to earn on average 40% more whilst employing refugee carers and providing a safe and stimulating environment for children.
After 16 months, the daycares run sustainably and no longer receive funding from Kumwe Hub or other sources. All costs are covered by the parents and all decisions are made by a dedicated Parent Community Assocation (PCA).
We now scaling the model to a further 3 locations within Mahama with a vision to have multiple daycares serving thousands of the most vulnerable children across the region.
The daycare is
Supporting women to thrive in their businesses
Providing new jobs in the camp for carers
Giving children access to Save the Children’s early childhood development programming
Impact
In Year 1 of our first Itetero Daycare :
- 90% of mothers putting their children into the daycare experienced an increase in revenue from their businesses. All 90% increased revenues by over 40%
- 70% experienced an increase in customers
- 85% reported the ability to work more hours
- 25% said that they could hire more staff
- 75% reported an improvement in hygiene levels within their business
Bridging the Digital Divide for Refugees
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In partnership with Innovation Norway, Kumwe Hub is developing sustainable and replicable market-based solutions for refugees in Rwanda to access the internet, and for them to leverage this connectivity to improve their quality of life. We are doing this by bringing together refugees and the private sector to come up with solutions jointly.
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Refugees expressed that they could not afford smartphones and mobile data to allow them to access the internet. Kumwe Hub has engaged with Samphone and MTN to tackle this problem: now developing a new model that accommodates refugees’ economic capacities. A model in which refugees will pay for the smartphone and data themselves through installments – a model never tested before in this market!
Microworks
Engaging African youth with modern tech, giving them a stable income source and a career path.
In 2021, Kumwe ran a pilot with 30 refugee youth in Kigali, who earned income from annotating images using their mobile devices to support Artificial Intelligence platforms.
Participants earned on average 5X the minimum wage in Rwanda and moved over to a local partner to continue.
Check out a video highlighting the success of the partnership here!
Noviguide
Digital Healthcare Solution that provides real-time clinical data to medical regulators.
A Digital Healthcare Solution to continuously improve the quality of neo-natal care by supporting front-line healthcare workers in clinical decision-making and providing real-time clinical data to medical regulators.
Piloting implementation within the hospital at the Mahama Refugee Camp and the Kirehe District Hospital.
Do you have a market-based solution for children, families or youth that you would like to pilot in Save the Children’s existing programming? Might your product or service benefit groups such as refugees, teenage mothers, unemployed youth, malnourished children? Then we want to hear from you.
Do you have a market-based solution for children, families or youth that you would like to pilot in Save the Children’s existing programming?
Might your product benefit groups such as refugees, teenage mothers, unemployed youth, malnourished children? Then we want to hear from you.
