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Looking ahead to 2022

Emerging trends and new advances in Inclusive Business

How strategic coaching helped build a sustainable inclusive retail business in Egypt

How strategic coaching helped build a sustainable inclusive retail business in Egypt

Interview with Ahmed Sheikha, Chief Business Officer and Co-Founder, Brimore

Brimore is the biggest social commerce app in Egypt and Africa. It connects emerging manufacturers to a network of female sellers, whom it provides with independent income and growth opportunities.


You founded Brimore, a tech based retail platform, in Egypt in 2017. What were the main challenges you faced when developing your inclusive business model, and how did you overcome them?

One of the challenges we faced was creating a strong sustainable infrastructure for the business, and we managed to overcome that through hiring top talent and recruiting a diverse team with different backgrounds. Other challenges were understanding our stakeholders, pitching the model for them and structuring it in a way to be more inclusive. The multiple trainings attended and our impact management strategy helped us overcome this challenge in particular.

You participated in Strategic Advisory Service training through iBAN and GlobalCAD in 2017 and 2018. What were your reasons for participating in training?

All businesses by default are impactful; in one way or another they have an impact on people’s lives. We wanted to participate to understand the impact we provide, manage it intentionally and use our knowledge to scale our impact on our stakeholders.

Egyptian women
Brimore provides income opportunities to female sellers. © Brimore

What were the main areas of focus of the SAS training that you found useful in developing your business?

The training shed so much light on what it means to be an Inclusive Business, what it means to be working with the bottom of the pyramid and the opportunities that lie there. It helped us identify our stakeholders and how exactly we can interfere to help. The SAS training also helped us quantify certain impacts in business areas and we shifted our focus and entire performance towards the acquired knowledge.

Did you use coaching or advisory services to help you create and sustain partnerships? Which partnerships have turned out to be the most valuable?

Many of the partnerships we have were initially developed through the coaching and advisory services provided. We partnered with the GIZ on four different programs with four different teams as a consequence of this program. Some of the participants we met through these services have become business partners. We also hired some of the people we met through these services.

What was key to maximizing your impact on the BoP, and also on women? Which impacts have you measured since you launched your business?

Four main impact outcomes were clearly observed and measured; namely, the increase in the women sellers’ monthly income for a start, and the type of skills they acquired by working with Brimore, including technical skills that make this model even more sustainable. Furthermore, we observed the type of impact this has on their families and children, and how this raised their overall living standard. And finally, the impact on the working women’s self-esteem and mental health. We were able to measure this impact through qualitative and quantitative data.

Egyptian women
Most sellers Brimore works with are female. Gaining an income improves their self-esteem and helps them support their families. © Brimore

Would you recommend coaching or advisory services to IB entrepreneurs who are trying to reach the BoP or developing their business model? Why/why not?

We would definitely recommend the coaching or advisory services because the concept of the bottom of the pyramid needs to be more spread out and the way it was presented really helped our business. Leading an inclusive business should be a global message and we want to see more similar business models in our region in the upcoming years.

What kind of trends in Inclusive Business do you foresee for the coming year?

The one significant trend I observe is what I call the smart infrastructure, namely the type of businesses that build a sustainable infrastructure for the bottom of the pyramid are on the rise, whether that be in mobility, logistical services, commerce and flow of goods, agriculture or energy. This is clearly observed in the region and we position Brimore as a key player in many of those areas as well.

Ahmed Sheikha

Ahmed Sheikha is a Co-Founder and the Chief Business Officer of Brimore. He has vast experience in supply chain management and the education sector. Ahmed holds a Bachelor's degree in Telecommunications and Electronics Engineering from Alexandria University, and a Master's degree in Entrepreneurship and Innovation management from the Royal Institute of Technology KTH in Sweden.

Interview

Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association: Supporting women-led inclusive businesses in Cambodia

The Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association is supporting the development of Inclusive Business in Cambodia. Lina Sophat discusses the role of CWEA in supporting women entrepreneurs as a permanent member of the IB accreditation committee.
Alexandra Harris
Table of contents

graphic summary

GRAPHIC SUMMARY

Learn more about trends and advances in Inclusive Business by reading this nineteenth edition of the online magazine on Inclusive Business! The illustration was developed by Christopher Malapitan, a visual practitioner and trainer based in…

Christopher Malapitan

editorial

Powering the just transition – The biggest opportunity for Inclusive Business

In his editorial, Markus Dietrich argues that there is a unique window of opportunity in 2022 to position Inclusive Business as a business model for a just transition to an inclusive economy that leaves no one behind.

Markus Dietrich

feature story

Looking ahead to 2022: Emerging trends and new advances in Inclusive Business

Inclusive Business is no longer on the sidelines; it has come front and center in the boardroom. Governments are also making headway in promoting Inclusive Business and developing inclusive business strategies. Several advances have been made in the ASEAN region, culminating in the recent ASEAN Inclusive Business Summit in Brunei. In this issue of CLUED-iN, the last of 2021, we take a look at new developments and advances in Inclusive Business, including new tools, innovations and practical approaches turning policy into action.

Alexandra Harris

Seven questions to make your business more inclusive of low-income and marginalized communities

Multi-national corporations are increasingly searching for ways to make their businesses more inclusive and sustainable. In their blog, Gillian Hinde and Jessie Coates of EY introduce the new Inclusive Business Playbook, which highlights innovative examples of inclusive business models and delves into key areas for companies to examine.

Promoting Inclusive Business and innovation in ASEAN

In her interview, Marta Pérez Cusó covers the latest IB policy development in the ASEAN region and the practical next steps for inclusive business promotion. She also discusses the new publication Frontiers of Inclusive Innovation: Formulating technology and innovation policies that leave no one behind, which provides examples of how governments can support grassroots innovation and inclusive policies.

Harnessing innovative solar technology to provide opportunity in remote areas

Advances in distributed solar technology have created new opportunities for energy access in remote areas. Callum Yap of Okra Solar explains the latest developments and also tells us how inclusive business coaching helped his company develop a framework for working with communities at the base of the pyramid in Southeast Asia.

How strategic coaching helped build a sustainable inclusive retail business in Egypt

Ahmed Sheikha shares how his company drew on advisory coaching services to develop an impactful inclusive business model in Egypt and to scale its impact on stakeholders.

Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association: Supporting women-led inclusive businesses in Cambodia

The Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association is supporting the development of Inclusive Business in Cambodia. Lina Sophat discusses the role of CWEA in supporting women entrepreneurs as a permanent member of the IB accreditation committee.

Lyly Food: Increasing visibility through IB accreditation in Cambodia

Lyly Food is a female-led company that buys fruits and vegetables from farmers, it is also one of the first Cambodian businesses to receive IB accreditation. Ing Chhiv Ly, the CEO, explains how developing an inclusive business model has benefited her company, and what the government can do to support businesses like hers.

Harnessing the Full Potential of Inclusive Business

How might Inclusive Business evolve in future? George Schoneveld of the Center for International Forestry Research outlines how it could contribute to the global climate change agenda and why partnerships are essential.