Strategy, Research and Advisory
Clear direction, grounded in evidence.
Expensive decisions are too often made on thin evidence or under pressure. We help leaders understand their position, test their options and commit to a direction they can defend, whether they are planning growth, recovering from distress or designing a new financing mechanism.
Questions we help answer
- Where should our institution be in five years, and what will it take to get there?
- Our organisation is in distress. What must change first?
- How can finance reach smallholder farmers or small enterprises without unacceptable risk?
- What does the evidence say about the enterprises, institutions or communities we want to serve?
- Is this agricultural investment or value chain programme designed to work for farmers?
What this service involves
We combine facilitated strategy work with research and specialist advisory. Our strategic planning is participatory, so the people who will deliver the plan help shape it. Our turnaround practice brings structured methods to organisations in distress or transition. And our specialist advisers bring long experience in financial inclusion, blended finance and agricultural value chains.
How we support you
- Strategic planning. Participatory planning for start-ups and established institutions, including strategic plans with full financial models.
- Turnaround management. Structured diagnosis and recovery planning for organisations in distress or transition.
- Financial inclusion and microfinance advisory. Strategic plans, institutional assessments and capacity building that help financial institutions reach smallholder farmers, women-led enterprises and rural communities.
- Blended finance and risk-sharing design. Financing and risk-sharing mechanisms that bring lenders into agriculture and other underserved sectors.
- Agricultural value chain strategy. Programme and investment design across the value chain, from input supply and production to aggregation, processing and market access.
- Research and diagnostics. Quantitative surveys, key informant interviews, maturity assessments and policy briefs.
Who we work with
Microfinance banks and other financial institutions; governments and their agencies; development partners and multilateral agencies; investment and enterprise support organisations; and agribusinesses.
Why it matters
A good strategy narrows choices and focuses resources. Good evidence shows where those resources will make the most difference. Together they give a board, a ministry or a funder the confidence to commit.
Relevant experience
- A five-year strategic plan for 2026 to 2030, with a full financial model, for SwiftTrust Microfinance Bank.
- Design of the blended finance mechanism for MIFA-TIRSAL in Togo, which went on to deploy 27 billion CFAF and create 274,000 jobs.
- Blended finance advisory for FAO in Angola and Mozambique.
- A 203-MSME quantitative diagnostic and a maturity index baseline of 34 enterprise support organisations for the Inclusive Investment Foundation.
- Design of a 10,000-hectare soyabean outgrower scheme in Jigawa State for NFD AGRO, using the NIRSAL credit guarantee model.
- Strategic retreat materials on board governance and the Theory of Constraints for Cross River Microfinance Bank.
