The project “Employment Promotion in the Informal Sector by Leveraging Diaspora Money Transfers” (WIDU.africa), aims to bolster the prospects of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises across several African nations, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Togo, and Tunisia. WIDU.africa is a project of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, implemented on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In collaboration with the African diaspora in Europe. WIDU applies an innovative approach that combines funding and coaching to strengthen new and existing small businesses in Africa and has so far supported over 2,500 entrepreneurs.

Evidence from a Rigorous Impact Evaluation in the pilot countries of Cameroon and Ghana evidences significant advancements in job creation, business operations efficiency, and an increase in personal income derived from these enterprises. The evidence also suggests that the full spectrum of WIDU's benefits may only materialise after the project has been concluded, emphasizing the necessity for a comprehensive evaluation post-implementation. This is particularly pertinent for countries like Kenya, one of the predominant participants in the WIDU project. 

GIZ commissioned ImpactLoop to carry out a tracer study of WIDU in Kenya, which involves mixed-methods data collection on over two hundred WIDU-supported entrepreneurs. The aim of the assessment is twofold: it will probe the implications of the Original WIDU Grant (OWG) within Kenya and scrutinize the outcomes of the innovative “local calls” pilot within the country, which targets green businesses and those that put emphasis on cross-cutting areas of gender, climate resilience, and improved nutrition outcomes in Kenya, without leveraging diaspora support. A comparative analysis between these two methodologies (OWG versus local calls) will enrich understanding and facilitate nuanced learnings. This approach ensures a robust and holistic understanding of the project's long-term impact.

The project team consists of Manuela K. Guenther, Dr Tanju Fidel Kotto, Esther Wanjiku, and Ashmika Gouchwal.