FINCA Ventures and the Cisco Foundation combine vision and resources to amplify the impact of African entrepreneurs.
In today’s global development and impact investing landscape, mission-aligned partnerships play a pivotal role in driving scalable and sustainable change. The collaboration between FINCA Ventures — FINCA’s impact investing arm — and the Cisco Foundation is a powerful example of how catalytic philanthropy can accelerate innovation, expand access to essential services, and promote financial inclusion for underserved communities.
But this partnership is more than a powerful example. It’s a blueprint for how to eradicate poverty once and for all.
Our work with the Cisco Foundation reflects a shared belief that beyond good intentions, meaningful progress demands bold ambition, strategic alignment, and a commitment to systemic change. The challenge of breaking poverty cycles is larger than any single institution, and it calls for partnerships that leverage deep expertise and unflinching resolve to confront root causes together.
The Ingredients for Impact at Scale
FINCA’s mission — to end poverty through sustainable and scalable solutions that help individuals create livelihoods, build resilience, and educate their children — is at the heart of everything we do at FINCA Ventures. By supporting early-stage social enterprises, we translate that mission into action, connecting communities to life-changing products and services across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Our partnership with the Cisco Foundation works because it brings together two organizations with distinct but complementary strengths. Cisco focuses on expanding equitable access to technology, recognizing its potential to drive inclusive growth and boost resilience in underserved communities. At FINCA Ventures, we target structural barriers to opportunity by equipping mission-driven entrepreneurs with the capital, capacity, and tools they need to deliver measurable impact.
Both organizations understand that transformational change requires more than funding — it requires a shared commitment to the kind of long-term partnership and ecosystem building that allows innovation to take root and grow.
Changemakers on the Ground
Through a recent grant, the Cisco Foundation is providing technical assistance funding for four of FINCA Ventures’ high-impact investees. Each of these companies addresses critical gaps in financial services, agriculture, and technology access through sustainable, community-focused models.
This grant is not just about scaling impact in the abstract — it’s about enabling tangible, measurable progress in the lives of people who are often excluded from formal systems. The companies themselves are the engines of change, and the partnership exists to help them go further, faster. When we say “scale impact,” we mean expanding access to tools that help people invest in their futures. We mean helping farmers grow more food, helping women access credit, and helping communities withstand climate shocks. We mean real change that transforms lives.
This Cisco Foundation grant is enabling these four FINCA Ventures investees to achieve just that.
- In Ghana, Affinity Africa is advancing digital financial literacy and mobile banking access, equipping women and informal workers with the tools to manage money, build credit, and plan for the future.
- In Zambia, Good Nature Agro is enhancing its credit scoring system to unlock agricultural finance for smallholder farmers, allowing them to invest in better inputs and increase their yields.
- In Kenya, Kwara is piloting a liquidity program for community-owned savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs), making it easier for members to access timely credit for education, entrepreneurship, and emergencies.
- In Ghana, Fluid Finance Technologies is integrating financing, mechanization, and advisory services to help farmers navigate climate risks and secure more reliable harvests.
At its core, this is about collaboration — between funders, entrepreneurs, and communities — not through one-time interventions, but by strengthening the relationships and systems that make lasting change possible.
A Challenge That Won’t Wait
The urgency of this work is clear. According to the 2025 Global Findex Report, 1.3 billion adults still lack access to formal financial services. While account ownership has grown globally, women and rural populations continue to face significant barriers, especially in developing economies. The gender gap in financial access remains persistent, shaped by factors like employment, education, and digital literacy.
Meanwhile, research from CGAP shows that when people — particularly low-income women — gain access to basic financial tools like savings, credit, and insurance, they are better able to invest in their livelihoods, withstand economic shocks, and improve long-term wellbeing.
The data confirms what FINCA Ventures is building with the Cisco Foundation has the potential to achieve great results and energizes us onward in our shared mission. It demonstrates what’s possible when capital is aligned with purpose, and when organizations commit to working together to forge something bigger than themselves.
