MPhil student Shufaa Hame’s start-up, ‘Kuwiswe’, aims to bring ethically created African-made products to global customers and to tackle the exploitation of the continent as only a source of raw materials. Kuwiswe acts as an online platform that connects African-owned businesses with a global market and, also, as a call to rethink people’s mindsets when it comes to the purchases they make. Its goal is two-fold: to celebrate the quality and artistic value of Tanzania and the continent, and to actively foster conscious consumers. Read more about Shufaa’s inspiration for her social venture Kuwiswe here.

In 2024, the E-Lab ran the second edition of our Entrepreneurship Essay Competition. The purpose of the competition is to encourage UK-based school students to pursue entrepreneurial aspirations and understand better how to launch an enterprise. The students choose between three essay questions which reflects the importance of entrepreneurism and the challenges that businesses face. This week, we share the essay of runner up, Keon Robert from Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet, who explains how Grameen Bank in Bangladesh embodies the essence of sustainable and successful social enterprise.

Social enterprises face unique challenges when it comes to measuring impact. Distinct from traditional business models, these organisations are driven by the aim to create meaningful and sustainable difference in the lives of their beneficiaries. These kinds of impact can be far more intangible than that which constitutes usual business metrics. As a consequence, innovative approaches to measure and understand impact are often required. Noise Solution, a music mentoring programme for at-risk youth, provides just such an example of this. Simon Glenister, the founder of Noise Solution and panellist from the our Catalysts for Change event, shares his insights of their approach.