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.
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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 in-person workshop, entrepreneurs receive 10 weeks of app based learning and support, access to opportunities and funding.
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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
Entrepreneurs are considered too risky an investment. Njia believes that these entrepreneurs are too valuable to be left out. 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 intel on this sector. Â
