Hand in Hand Eastern Africa

What Hand in Hand Eastern Africa does

Hand in Hand Eastern Africa (HiH EA) is a Kenyan non-governmental organization founded in 2010 and affiliated with the Hand in Hand Global Network, focused on poverty alleviation through enterprise creation among marginalized women, youth, and smallholder farmers. The organization operates 25 field offices across 33 of Kenya's 47 counties, delivering a four-step enterprise development model built around self-help groups (SHGs) as the primary organizing unit. Its service stack comprises seven training modules covering group mobilization, savings mobilization, enterprise development, financial management, value chain development, credit access, and climate resilience, alongside six thematic programmes (waste management, human rights/economic empowerment, digitalization, agroecology and climate resilience, gender advocacy, and value chain development). HiH EA has mobilized and trained over 300,000 members, formed more than 10,000 self-help groups, and reports cumulative creation of 400,000+ jobs and 300,000+ enterprises, with cumulative loan disbursements of KES 1.2 billion (~$9M USD) to 70,000 beneficiaries facilitated through partner financial institutions.

The organization's technology stack is primarily operational rather than transformative: digital systems for data collection, training management, learning management, savings group tracking, and reporting support programme delivery, supplemented by the Sacco Portal (portal.handinhandsacco.co.ke) for savings group operations, the Saver Pal mobile app for micro-savings, and the DIGITISE programme which introduces digital marketing, e-commerce (Jumia, Glovo), and supply chain tools to 3,000 enterprises. A wholly-owned subsidiary, Fanikisha Hub Limited, functions as a social enterprise providing market linkages, product standardization, and consultancy services in social economic empowerment, agriculture, climate resilience, gender advocacy, and waste management. AI integration is at the exploration stage, with an active tender for an AI Integration and Decision Support Enablement Project.

The business model is grant-dependent: the primary revenue stream is institutional funding from international development agencies (notably SIDA via the Embassy of Sweden for the BIRE 2024-2028 and EDRF III projects, and Lind Invest for a 30-month Eldoret project) and foundations (M-pesa Foundation, Safaricom Foundation, Gunvor Foundation, Postkod Foundation, Hand in Hand Sweden), supplemented by individual donations via Mpesa and PayPal and modest consultancy revenue from Fanikisha Hub. Services are delivered free to beneficiaries, and the organization does not publicly disclose revenue or pricing.

Name

Hand in Hand Eastern Africa

Legal name

Hand in Hand Eastern Africa

Website

https://handinhand-ea.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Hand in Hand Eastern Africa is a Kenyan NGO founded in 2010 that delivers enterprise development training, savings mobilization, and market linkages to marginalized women, youth, and smallholder farmers through 25 field offices, 10,000+ self-help groups, and its Fanikisha Hub social enterprise, funded primarily by SIDA, Lind Invest, and foundation grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Microenterprise Development Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGABAA

Rural Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/International Development & Poverty Alleviation

SECONDARYBPAGALAJ

Financial Inclusion & Consumer Empowerment (Banking Access, Credit Building)

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Social Enterprises & Impact Organizations

SECONDARYBPAGAEAG

Disability Services & Independent Living Support

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Social Services & Community Support (Food, Housing, Family)

SECONDARYBPADAGAH

Minority, Indigenous & Disability Rights

Business & Public Services/International Organizations & Development/Human Rights, Democracy & Governance

Keywords

• Enterprise development training
• Poverty alleviation programmes
• Microenterprise support
• Community self-help groups
• Agricultural value chains

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Primary revenue stream from institutional donors including SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), foundations (Lind Invest, Gunvor Foundation, M-pesa Foundation, Safaricom Foundation), and government partnerships. The BIRE project alone represents a significant multi-year grant from SIDA/Embassy of Sweden.
2. Donations: Charitable donations received through Mpesa (Business No. 504864) and PayPal for supporting grassroots entrepreneurs and poverty alleviation programmes.
3. Fanikisha Hub Consultancy Services: Social enterprise providing consultancy services in social economic empowerment, agriculture, climate resilience, gender advocacy, and waste management to generate revenue for sustainability.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Hand in Hand Eastern Africa is a Non-Governmental Organization that mobilizes marginalized communities into self-help groups and delivers a four-step enterprise development programme covering group mobilization, savings mobilization, enterprise development, financial management, value chain development, credit access, and climate resilience. Through 25 field offices across 33 Kenyan counties, it has trained over 300,000 members, formed 10,000+ self-help groups, and supports member enterprises with market linkages via its subsidiary Fanikisha Hub Limited, which provides product standardization, quality assurance, and consultancy services in social economic empowerment, agriculture, climate resilience, gender advocacy, and waste management.

Product overview

Hand in Hand Eastern Africa is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) focused on poverty alleviation through enterprise creation. Its primary product offerings consist of the Fanikisha Hub social enterprise (including a marketplace for agricultural products like poultry, honey, dairy, fruits, vegetables, cereals, sunflower, and beadwork, plus consultancy services), a suite of seven training modules (group mobilization, savings, enterprise development, financial management, value chain development, credit access, and climate resilience), and six thematic project programs (waste management, human rights, digitalization, agroecology/climate resilience, gender advocacy, and value chain development). Additional offerings include the Saver Pal mobile app for micro-enterprise savings and a Sacco Portal for savings group operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fanikisha Hub Social Enterprise A wholly-owned social enterprise subsidiary of Hand in Hand Eastern Africa that facilitates members' enterprise growth through enhanced product development, standardization and quality assurance, market linkages, and expansion — enabling smallholder farmers and self-help groups to access broader markets directly, bypassing middlemen.
• Fanikisha Hub Consultancy Services Consultancy and training services delivered under Fanikisha Hub covering social economic empowerment, agriculture, climate resilience, gender and advocacy, and waste management — generating revenue for organizational sustainability.
• Fanikisha Hub Product Marketplace Marketplace operated under Fanikisha Hub offering agricultural and craft products produced by Hand in Hand Eastern Africa members, including poultry, honey (beekeeping), dairy (milk), fruits, potatoes, vegetables, cereals, sunflower, beadwork, and waste management products.
• Sacco Portal Digital platform (portal.handinhandsacco.co.ke) supporting sacco and self-help group savings operations, digital lending, and borrowing for rural community members — enabling financial inclusion through table banking and group savings.
• Saver Pal App Mobile application designed to help small business owners save profits and manage family expenses, supporting micro-enterprise financial management among community members.
• DIGITISE Digitalization Programme Digitalization programme helping 3,000 established enterprises embrace digital marketing, e-commerce integration on platforms such as Jumia and Glovo, digital financial management, and supply chain optimization — boosting resilience, efficiency, and competitiveness of beneficiary enterprises.

Quantifiable outcome

• 300,000+ members mobilized and trained
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Hand in Hand SwedencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerContributing to SIDA grant for BIRE project. Part of the Hand in Hand Global Network pursuing shared goal of poverty alleviation and supporting poorer communities to develop sustainable enterprises.
• UN WomenmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUN Women partnership for gender equality and women's economic empowerment initiatives. Logo displayed on website.
• RadiojalphenminorOthersPartner organization. Logo displayed on website.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Opportunity International: Global microfinance and small enterprise development organization providing savings, credit, and training to entrepreneurs in Africa and beyond. Closely comparable on the financial inclusion and SHG savings components of HiH EA's model.
• BRAC: Large international development organization combining microfinance, enterprise development, and social services with deep field networks in Africa and Asia. Closest scale and methodology peer to HiH EA's community-led self-help group model.
• Grameen Foundation: Operates programmes addressing poverty through microfinance, digital financial services, and agricultural value chains, with strong presence in East Africa. Directly comparable to HiH EA's savings-led, community-based financial inclusion work.
• CARE International: Major humanitarian and international development NGO with a long-running Kenya country office focused on women's economic empowerment, financial inclusion, and resilience — overlapping directly with HiH EA's primary beneficiary segments.
• Hand in Hand International: Parent/coordinating body of the Hand in Hand Global Network of which HiH EA is a member. Operates the same self-help group + enterprise development model across multiple countries, providing the most direct organizational and methodological comparative.

Emerging players

• Kiva: Online crowdfunding platform for microloans to underserved entrepreneurs globally, with a Kenya country programme. HiH EA already lists Kiva as a financial partner, reflecting direct collaboration on credit access for SHG members.

Direct peers

• TechnoServe: International NGO that builds market-based solutions to poverty, working with smallholder farmers and micro-entrepreneurs in value chains (dairy, coffee, horticulture). Comparable enterprise development and value chain methodology to HiH EA.
• Self Help Africa: International NGO focused on smallholder agriculture, enterprise development, and climate resilience across Sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya. Closely comparable to HiH EA's agroecology, value chain, and SHG enterprise methodology.
• One Acre Fund: Provides smallholder farmers in Kenya and East Africa with training, input financing, and market access bundled into a single programme. Highly comparable to HiH EA's smallholder agriculture, value chain, and credit access training modules.

Regional players

• Equity Bank (Equity Group Foundation): Kenyan financial institution that is itself a financial partner of HiH EA (disbursing loans to CBOs like Oljororok Smart Climate Village). Comparable on the financial inclusion and SME credit side of the model, operated at vastly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HandinHandEA
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@handinhandea
• Facebookfacebook.com/handinhandea
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hand-in-hand-eastern-africa
• Instagraminstagram.com/handinhandeasternafrica

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hand in Hand Eastern Africa