Established in 2014, BDO is a leading firm of advisors to the public sector, government, financial institutions, and donor agencies. BDO East Africa is a centrally-managed network of offices across Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with 12 partners and more than 350 professional staff and is a Member Firm of BDO International. It is well placed to demonstrate how a local provider of business development services (BDS) can work with agri-SMEs in risky sectors to access financing and investment. Contact: www.bdo-ea.com

Enhancing Financial and Investment Readiness to Empower SMEs to Access Commercial Loans and External Capital for Investment

Through this 12-month project starting in May 2024, BDO is supporting three agri-SMEs (AGRAH CARE, B5CD and Good Smelling) to become investment ready and to access financing. Through this partnership, CASA has worked with BDO to identify the agri-SMEs seeking loans and investment from within the pipeline of CASA partners and to assess the relevant skills gaps among the identified agri-SMEs. CASA is further supporting this assessment through routine due diligence. This is conducted with the partner as a part of their individual projects and any referenced technical assistance within the partner’s defined project activities and budget. Types of assistance in the £48,750 CASA contribution includeidentification and selection of agri-SMEs, assessment and preparation, strategic alignment and enhancement, investor engagement and due diligence, negotiation and closing, and scaling up.

BDO is seeking an additional £450,000 in investment to address the needs of the partner agri-SMEs.