The Challenge
Necessity driven entrepreneurs - informal traders who have set up and run a business because they have little to no alternate income generating options - are often seen as too challenging and risky an investment, even though these entrepreneurs have everything to lose if their businesses fail. These businesses struggle to access excellent capacity building and appropriate support, limiting South Africa's economic growth.
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Financial Institutions - At the same time, financial institutions want to bank these businesses, and unlock value from this market, including the township economy worth over 9 billion Rands
(Standard Bank Township Economy Report, 2025)
The Way Forward
Njia is the the journey that equips necessity driven entrepreneurs with confidence, skills and resources needed to leverage formal economy benefits, shifting their journey from one of survival to long term economic resilience and prosperity.
After an energetic in-person workshop, entrepreneurs receive 11 weeks of app based learning and support, access to opportunities, a peer community and funding - that lead to increased revenue, customers, savings and self belief.Â
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Njia has been built on regenerative principles, with innovation and long term thinking as core focus areas within the business.
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Training and Support
Njia provides institutional grade support, because excellence is an essential component to success. Njia also provides highly considered psycho-social provision for each participants, to help them navigate their past, their dreams, and social mobility.
Creating pathways to the formal economy
Leveraging the formal economy to grow businesses and create wealth, can be taken for granted. This is a key deliverable of Njia, to allow entrepreneurs to access as many benefits of the formal economy, as any other entrepreneur in the world.
Investment
Necessity based entrepreneurs are considered too risky an investment and also are seen as unsophisticated. This is not true; Njia has seen first-hand the ability and economic value of these entrepreneurs. Investment is non extractive, and provides not only the capital for entrepreneurs to grow but also the credit score to prove viability for follow on capital.
Data Mapping
Each Njia cohort provides rich quantitative and qualitative data sets, that will be aggregated for policy and intel on this sector. Â
