All Publications

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  Partnering to Crush the Curve: Insights from Africa’s First Responders

  PUBLISHED: October, 2020

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  Intellecap With Shakti Foundation Brings Out A Report On Climate Risk Mainstreaming – Approaches For Indian Financial Institution

  PUBLISHED: October, 2020

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  Sankalp Africa Summit 2020- Report

  PUBLISHED: September, 2020

  Tags: Sankalp Forum,Africa, Sankalp Africa Summit 2020

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  A SURVEY REPORT: IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON SANITATION ENTERPRISES

  PUBLISHED: July, 2020

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• 

  Innovative credit models in Africa – An FSD Africa and Intellecap Publication

  PUBLISHED: July, 2020

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• 

  Promoting Disaster Risk Reslience Technologies And Innovations In India_All Stakeholders

  PUBLISHED: June, 2020

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• 

  Promoting Disaster Risk Reslience Technologies And Innovations In India_ Guide for Innovators

  PUBLISHED: June, 2020

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• 

  An East Africa Guide: Angel Investing During a Time of Crisis

  PUBLISHED: May, 2020

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• 

  South and Southeast Asia Investment Landscape Mapping | Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) Grand Challenge for Development

  PUBLISHED: April, 2020

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• 

  Intellecap Lighthouse – An anthology of thoughts & insights (2020)

  PUBLISHED: April, 2020

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Partnering to Crush the Curve: Insights from Africa’s First Responders
PUBLISHED: October, 2020
It is no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic hi t us like a tsunami , unawares and unprepared. As the pandemic continues to overwhelm countries around the globe, it has transformed the way we live, work and even interact within our communities.
Africa was one of the last continents in the world to contract the virus, and watched the rest of the world battle the pandemic, knowing it would eventually hit and knowing that the impact would be devastating.
To begin with, most countries in Africa have precious healthcare systems in place and the vast major i ty of people have no access to health insurance. For instance, 4 out of 5 people in Kenya lack health insurance.
[ 1 ] Africa witnessed first-world countries with advanced health care systems, hospitals, and equipment get quickly over run and overwhelmed by the virus. If they couldn’t handle Covid-19, how on earth would Africa manage this disease?
Furthermore, Africa’s informal economy makes up approximately 41% of its GDP.
[2] The very nature of this informal economy has no cushioning – for those who are informal workers, not working means not getting paid. And not getting paid means you can’t feed your family for every day you can’t work. An economic slowdown in Africa means that a vast majority of people will no longer be able to feed their families on a daily basis. Stay-at-home mandates for many low-income day laborers in Africa means they will be starving. Most people would run the risk of exposure to Covid-19 by working, rather than starve because they can’t generate an income staying at home.
To address these issues, various organizations have been taking urgent actions to assist the families living in these communities, but most organizations are still testing the waters to see what works and what doesn’t . Some are adapting already existing measures to better suit the crisis, but all are piloting and pivoting as they go. With most African countries facing similar challenges, from poor and ill equipped healthcare systems to over run informal settlements and congested public transport , there is a great opportunity for these initiatives to learn from each other ,within and across borders, to lessen Covid-19’s impact on the continent .
We launched this series to facilitate learning, highlight successful examples, and promote collaboration across the African continent . The approaches for dealing with Covid-19 in Africa will – and should – look distinctly different from other parts of the World. There is no silver bullet , but we hope these learnings and insights will help not only shorten learning curves for dealing with Covid-19, but ultimately, rebuild our ecosystems to be stronger and more resilient in the future.
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Intellecap With Shakti Foundation Brings Out A Report On Climate Risk Mainstreaming – Approaches For Indian Financial Institution
PUBLISHED: October, 2020
India alone lost over USD 80 billion in economic losses over two decades (2000-2019) due to climate change. According to estimates, climate change could cost businesses and investors across the world over USD 1.2 trillion over the next 15 years.there is a growing realization that the community including businesses and investors need to be more proactive in incorporating climate risk considerations in their operations along with Government which need to include climate change resilience initiatives in its policies. This initiative aims to map the understanding of financial institutions in India on climate risk mainstreaming requirements as well as implementation strategies.
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Sankalp Africa Summit 2020- Report
PUBLISHED: September, 2020
The report of the Sankalp Africa Summit 2020 is all about our  February 2020 summit where we convened 1268 delegates from nearly 40 countries to discuss, deliberate, and collaborate on the role of entrepreneurship in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Convened in Nairobi, Kenya, the Sankalp Africa Summit 2020 celebrated some of the most promising enterprises from across the continent.
Over the two days of the Sankalp Africa Summit 2020, we hosted 50+ sessions which included main plenaries, impact lounges, panel discussions, debates, design hacks, interactive workshops, masterclasses, deal rooms, member meetings, film screenings, and a dance workshop followed by an exclusive dinner for women leaders. Sankalp and its partners curated sessions around sectors such as Agriculture, Livelihoods, Healthcare, Financial Inclusion, Clean Energy and Smart Climate, the Circular Economy, Water and Sanitation, and Frontier Economies, as well as a focus on crosscutting themes such as Technology for Good, Talent, and Gender.
Aligned to the Summit’s theme, ‘Collaborate 2030: Scaling Entrepreneurship for the Global Goals,’ the main plenary session sought to take on a holistic self-audit view on whether the Sustainable Development Goals really were achievable in the next 10 years and could create meaningful impact for those living at the bottom of the pyramid, or if they were merely symbolic to further international political agendas. The discussion was also around what more we all need to do to increase the world’s chances of realizing the SDGs in just the next 10 years.
This year at Sankalp Africa, we explored some new engagement opportunities, including not only a deal room for investors to connect with other investors, but a new deal room for entrepreneurs themselves to identify potential business partners and leads. We screened three films at Sankalp this year, highlighting film as a tool for social change. We endeavored to reduce our own carbon footprint by using upcycled lanyards, replacing all single-used water bottles with re-usable aluminum bottles and water stations, and ensuring that the event’s waste was disposed of responsibly.
With over 1,200 delegates attending the 2020 Africa Summit, Sankalp continues to celebrate the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem across diverse stakeholders who are working to resolve some world’s most pressing challenges. As we are all experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic, we are going into uncharted territory together. If nothing else, recent events have demonstrated the critical importance of community support, alliances for impact, and ecosystem building. We are committed to our role in convening the entrepreneurship community for the Global South and will continue to do so – across global, regional, and local convenings, both digitally and inperson
Download Pdf Here


A SURVEY REPORT: IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON SANITATION ENTERPRISES
PUBLISHED: July, 2020
Over the last few months, the spread of COVID-19 pandemic has led countries across the globe to witness an unprecedented impact on healthcare systems in particular and economies as a whole. This modern age pandemic has caused a major economic slowdown with a loss of around $8.8 trillion, which is around 9.7% of the global GDP. Studies across the globe suggest that the impact of this pandemic has been felt across industries with the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) being the worst hit.
The story is no different in India, where the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases have caused severe health and economic crisis. As most economic activities remained halted during lockdown, a lot of businesses in the MSME category faced the risk of extinction due to decreased demand for non-essential commodities, labour shortage, credit deficit and almost no working capital. Since the SMEs contribute to 29% of the GDP, and employ more than 11 crore people, it is imperative to study, and understand how they have been impacted and design measures to support them.
At Better Sanitation Collective – an initiative by Intellecap, we recognize the role of sanitation enterprises in the current scenario and the challenges they may have faced in being operational during the pandemic. Hence, to better understand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on them and the ecosystem in which they function, we conducted a survey, and reached out to 200 enterprises. The survey primarily focused on capturing the impact of the pandemic on their business operations, their response to these challenges and additional support needed to tide over the ongoing crisis.
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Innovative credit models in Africa – An FSD Africa and Intellecap Publication
PUBLISHED: July, 2020
Established in 2012 and supported by UK aid, FSD Africa is a specialist development agency working to build and strengthen financial markets across sub-Saharan Africa.
FSD Africa is incorporated as a non-profit company limited by guarantee in Kenya. It is funded by UK aid from the UK government. They work to reduce poverty through a ‘market systems development’ approach, which means we aim to address the structural, underlying causes of poverty by improving how financial market systems function.
As part of FSD Africa work in credit markets, they aim to contribute to a greater understanding of factors that inhibit the growth of credit markets in sub-Saharan Africa. FSD Africa partnered with Intellecap to undertake research on market innovations in retail credit markets.
The objective was to assess innovative models emerging in selected countries – South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda – and to identify the critical factors for success. The region continues to face a myriad of challenges across the spectrum of the lending value chain, which affect credit access. These include low-income levels, poor infrastructure, weak policy and a high cost of credit.
In the face of these challenges, innovative digital technologies and business models are emerging in an attempt to solve credit access challenges. The report identifies over 30 credit innovations that leverage technology, multiple data sources and partnerships to enhance access and delivery of financial services to underserved segments across the continent.
The insights generated through the research are intended to highlight market opportunities and challenges, and will be of value to policymakers, regulators, credit providers, financial sector analysts, as well as others interested in supporting credit market growth in the region.
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Promoting Disaster Risk Reslience Technologies And Innovations In India_All Stakeholders
PUBLISHED: June, 2020
The increased frequency and intensity of disaster risks in recent years has led to huge social and economic losses, both in India and around the world. India, being a climate-sensitive nation, with a large vulnerable population, unplanned physical infrastructure development, and poor institutional capacity is worse affected by disaster-related impacts.
It is extremely important to promote the application of innovations and technology for Disaster Risk Resilience (DRR) aimed at improving the adaptive capacity of communities and reducing losses due to disaster-related impacts. Considerable efforts are being taken towards enhancing the role of technology in reducing vulnerabilities of communities and ecosystems-at-risk, preventing risks, and building the resilience of critical infrastructure.
In India, the Government, along with the private sector, has been widely using technologies such as Geographic Information System (GIS), weather forecasting and predictive analytics, early warning systems and remote sensing to identify risks and improve response to disasters. However, the spread and availability of disruptive technologies (such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, internet of things etc.) across disaster management scenarios (pre, during and post) vary amongst developed and developing nations. It is evident that an increased implementation of advanced technology for DRR will create new and improved methods which might enable evidence-based policies. The Government of India (GoI) recognizes that investment in DRR requires evidence-based risk management methods and effective application during emergencies.  
This study thus aims to; (a) map the landscape of technologies that can be used in the DRR space, (b) define the current ecosystem, (c) examine the challenges, and (d) provide suggestions for promoting DRR technologies and innovations in India. We have prepared two version – one for the innovators and other for stakeholders who need to support the sector in India.
Download Pdf Here


Promoting Disaster Risk Reslience Technologies And Innovations In India_ Guide for Innovators
PUBLISHED: June, 2020
The increased frequency and intensity of disaster risks in recent years has led to huge social and economic losses, both in India and around the world. India, being a climate-sensitive nation, with a large vulnerable population, unplanned physical infrastructure development, and poor institutional capacity is worse affected by disaster-related impacts.
It is extremely important to promote the application of innovations and technology for Disaster Risk Resilience (DRR) aimed at improving the adaptive capacity of communities and reducing losses due to disaster-related impacts. Considerable efforts are being taken towards enhancing the role of technology in reducing vulnerabilities of communities and ecosystems-at-risk, preventing risks, and building the resilience of critical infrastructure.
In India, the Government, along with the private sector, has been widely using technologies such as Geographic Information System (GIS), weather forecasting and predictive analytics, early warning systems and remote sensing to identify risks and improve response to disasters. However, the spread and availability of disruptive technologies (such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, internet of things etc.) across disaster management scenarios (pre, during and post) vary amongst developed and developing nations. It is evident that an increased implementation of advanced technology for DRR will create new and improved methods which might enable evidence-based policies. The Government of India (GoI) recognizes that investment in DRR requires evidence-based risk management methods and effective application during emergencies.  
This study thus aims to; (a) map the landscape of technologies that can be used in the DRR space, (b) define the current ecosystem, (c) examine the challenges, and (d) provide suggestions for promoting DRR technologies and innovations in India. We have prepared two version – one for the innovators and other for stakeholders who need to support the sector in India.
Download Pdf Here


An East Africa Guide: Angel Investing During a Time of Crisis
PUBLISHED: May, 2020
There has been a lot of focus on how entrepreneurs can survive the Covid-19 pandemic:
InVhestia Africa had a webinar on how to navigate this period financially; Idris Bello has written a great article on survival tips for entrepreneurs; GS Capital had a webinar on start- up management; and 10X Entrepreneur has launched a Leadership Field Guide to help entrepreneurs navigate the Covid-19 crisis, just to mention a few.
Let’s be honest here: Entrepreneurs will need financing to get through this economic downturn. However, most of the investors that we’ve asked said that due diligence has been slowed either due to travel restrictions, their focus on supporting their existing portfolio of entrepreneurs, or those which already had term sheets in place. So where is this financing going to come from?
Our perspective for this article is the investor side of the conversation. What are angel investors thinking about during this global crisis: Is now the perfect opportunity to invest? Is it a time to hold on to your cash and hide it under the bed?It can make sense to halt making any investments all together – and focus on supporting the existing portfolio – given that most angels invest out of pocket. However, this could be an uncommon opportunity to make investments which could generate very good returns, as described in Jason Calacanis’s excellent recent article.
While keeping safe and holding back might seem like the obvious thing to do, some level of aggressiveness might be beneficial, especially now when there’s a real dearth in financing in the market. We’re not advocating for carelessness, but we know entrepreneurs genuinely need financing right now. So we’ve put together this guide for angel investing in East Africa during a time of crisis, to help provide some considerations and guidance for your investment thesis.
As Jason Calacanis says, “Fortunes are made in the down market and collected in the upmarket. Let’s get to work.”
Download Pdf Here


South and Southeast Asia Investment Landscape Mapping | Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) Grand Challenge for Development
PUBLISHED: April, 2020
The mission of Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) Grand Challenge for Development is to expand the sustainable scale of small and growing enterprises (SGEs) that impact the sectors of food and water, food and energy, or all three sectors at the nexus (food, water, energy). The objective is to increase the sustainability of agricultural food value chains and address environmental and climate resilience in developing countries and emerging markets – with a particular focus on the poor and women.To support these enterprises, WE4F intends to establish a Asia Regional Innovation Hub in Bangkok, Thailand, that seeks to provide innovative technical assistance and brokering operation to support and scale enterprises that operate at the WE4F nexus.
Intellecap assisted in the rapid operationalization of the Asia Regional Innovation Hub by carrying out a landscape analysis to identify 100 high potential enterprises working at the nexus across South and South East Asia. We profiled 35 investors and over 25 BSPs in South/South East Asia who the Hub staff can reach out to for supporting the enterprises. Intellecap also provided recommendations to the Hub on the potential role it could play in supporting investment brokering and providing technical assistance.
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Intellecap Lighthouse – An anthology of thoughts & insights (2020)
PUBLISHED: April, 2020
The Intellecap Lighthouse is an anthology of various perspectives and insights from its thought leaders on topics that demand our attention today, and sector trends that will capture our imagination in the future.
Download Pdf Here