Nairobi, Kenya

To explore opportunities for alignment between formal sectors and regenerative/community-based economy development strategies, including mapping actors, building early trust, and understanding systemic trends shaping local economic governance

Initial Outreach: October–November 2024
Field Engagement: 21 November–7 December 2024

• Qualitative exploratory approach using stakeholder mapping and semi-structured dialogues

• Engagement included pre-identified meetings with tech hubs, universities, and investor representatives

• attendance at a local conference (on explicit invitation from the organizer)

• and 1:1 strategic meetings addressing local economic trends, the role of the informal economy, and systemic funding constraints

• System mappers and bridge-builders

• facilitators of early trust and relationship formation

• translation of community-economy realities into formal innovation and investment discourse

• Introduced our brand initiative What Matters as a credible, committed actor

• mapped early-stage relationships for cross-sector collaboration

• developed a perspective on national innovation priorities and how innovation flows interact with local communities

• Highlighted demand for local ownership, IP protection, and self-sufficiency in startup financing, alongside wariness of extractive Western investment practices

• confirmed a widening gap between investor interests and local developmental priorities; indicated that partnerships anchored in trust and local legitimacy can build bridges between disconnected formal and informal economies by connecting capital and local wisdom