Hand in Hand Eastern Africa
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.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersNairobi, Kenya
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
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.
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa firmographics
Firmographics- 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
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa industry classification
Industry- 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 primary industry
- Rural Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment (BPAGABAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Financial Inclusion & Consumer Empowerment (Banking Access, Credit Building) (BPAGALAJ), Disability Services & Independent Living Support (BPAGAEAG), Minority, Indigenous & Disability Rights (BPADAGAH)
Keywords
Where Hand in Hand Eastern Africa is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Nairobi
- HQ country
- Kenya
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices7 records
Markets served
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- 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.
- Donations: Charitable donations received through Mpesa (Business No. 504864) and PayPal for supporting grassroots entrepreneurs and poverty alleviation programmes.
- 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
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa product offering
Product offeringCore 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
Companies that use Hand in Hand Eastern Africa
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature3 records
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.
- Hand in Hand SwedencoreContributing 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 WomenmajorUN Women partnership for gender equality and women's economic empowerment initiatives. Logo displayed on website.
- RadiojalphenminorPartner organization. Logo displayed on website.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad 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
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa social profiles
Digital presenceHand in Hand Eastern Africa financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&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
What does Hand in Hand Eastern Africa do?
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.
Is Hand in Hand Eastern Africa a public or private company?
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Hand in Hand Eastern Africa founded?
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa was founded in 2010. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Hand in Hand Eastern Africa based?
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, in the Africa region.
How does Hand in Hand Eastern Africa make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Grant Funding is the primary driver. The others are donations and fanikisha Hub Consultancy Services.
Who are Hand in Hand Eastern Africa's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Opportunity International, BRAC, Grameen Foundation, CARE International and Hand in Hand International. Kiva is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are TechnoServe, Self Help Africa and One Acre Fund. Equity Bank (Equity Group Foundation) is listed as a regional player.
Does Hand in Hand Eastern Africa have an API?
No public API is recorded for Hand in Hand Eastern Africa.
What industry is Hand in Hand Eastern Africa in?
Hand in Hand Eastern Africa's product category is Microenterprise Development Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGABAA, Rural Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment, with a secondary code of BPAGALAJ, Financial Inclusion & Consumer Empowerment (Banking Access, Credit Building). Its NAICS code is 624190 and its SIC code is 8300.