Kumwe Hub

"Kumwe" - Kinyarwanda adverb: 'together, as one'. Kumwe Hub is a Rwanda-based innovative finance hub that drives investment to local businesses who have an impact on children, families or youth across East and Southern Africa. We provide technical support, concessional loans and grants to early stage businesses focusing on education, health, nutrition, protection, inclusion, climate/environment and sexual and reproductive rights. Our assumption is that local businesses that have an impact on children, family or youth are sometimes in the best position to sustainably solve problems for their particular target group. However, they rarely have the required access to funds, networks and skills needed to grow. Simultaneously investors that have a mandate for impact need trusted intermediaries, who are on the ground, know the context and can truly measure impact. Kumwe Hub serves as a bridge between these two. We use blended finance to catalyse follow-on investment and growth to early stage, high impact (but sometimes seen as high risk) African child-focused businesses. We leverage Save the Children’s trust and presence in hard to reach communities to partner with under-represented social entrepreneurs to make sustainable change for children.