CoELIB

Business Incubation, Business Leadership, & Market Development

CoELIB is dedicated to fostering a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem that includes young leaders and entrepreneurs. To this end, CoELIB hosts a range of enterprise start-up and business development seminars, dialogues, and workshops covering various topics focused on the challenges and solutions that entrepreneurs face. These sessions serve as learning and knowledge-sharing opportunities for participants, with a specific emphasis on the participation of women.
CoELIB recognizes the importance of investing in the skills of youth and entrepreneurs from the community, which is why it delivers entrepreneurship and business management skills training. The training programs empower young leaders and entrepreneurs to develop the skills necessary to succeed in business.
The centre offers training programs specifically targeting youth and entrepreneurs from the community, which are hosted quarterly. Through these programs, participants are provided with the knowledge and resources needed to develop viable ideas and business and marketing plans to evolve into successful enterprises. CoELIB is developing a new generation of young leaders and entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge necessary to drive innovation and sustainable economic growth in Eastern, Southern, and Western Africa.

The location of businesses in an environment where shared services are offered reduces the risk of business failure, especially during the vulnerable first 24 months. Providing subsidized rental space is essential as it provides opportunities for knowledge sharing between incubates. CoELIB offers physical space, including meeting rooms, shared reception, parking, training rooms, a kitchen, boardrooms, and hot-desking. In addition, CoELIB provides shared services such as access to copiers, wireless networks and printing to reduce the administrative burden on incubates. The critical elements of this service include the recruitment, management and graduation of incubates.

CoELIB also offers gender-sensitive business advisory services, counselling and mentorship. Advisory services are based on completing a business assessment (at the idea and start-up phase). Advice is provided regarding various issues and challenges that entrepreneurs wrestle with, including the viability of the business idea, start-up requirements, markets and marketing, operations, and business growth and development. The advisory services include a structured mentorship component. The mentor-mentee relationship enables the sharing of hands-on, practical, expert knowledge and experience, considering the specific needs of women-owned enterprises. In addition, mentors bring access to personal and professional networks developed over several years that can be invaluable to the entrepreneur.

CoELIB recognizes the importance of networking among young entrepreneurs. To this end, the centre organizes and hosts various networking events, meetups, and business-to-business meetings. Through these interactions, entrepreneurs connect with stakeholders, such as established producers, processors, and market players, to exchange ideas and explore potential collaborations. CoELIB also maintains a database of these key role-players to facilitate connections and collaborations further. Additionally, CoELIB works to establish partnerships with financial institutions and other organizations to provide access to funding opportunities for small enterprises.

CoELIB recognizes the crucial role of mentorship in developing young leaders and entrepreneurs. To this end, the centre has established a vast network of mentors derived from member organizations such as the Association of Start-up and SMEs Enablers of Kenya (ASSEK), the Association of Country Wide Innovation Hubs (ACIH), the Association of Agribusiness Incubator Network (AAIN), and the African Alliance Partnership (AAP), as well as in-house mentors and coaches.