SMME Support Research Trends, Data Analytics, M&E Partner
Catalyst for Growth NPC is a research-technology and M&E company which provides:
- BDS Programme Quality Assurance
- SMME Support Research
- Monitoring and Evaluation tools and services
- BDSP Capacity Development
to the African Business Development Support (BDS) industry, with the goal of increasing quality and impactful BDS that leads to tangible growth and sustainability outcomes for small enterprises.
Data-driven Decisions
C4G's mandate is to promote evidence-based decisions by funders and SMME support providers which ultimately lead to better support interventions.
Ecosystem-wide Learning
We document ecosystem-wide learning in our annual reports, monthly articles and knowledge-briefs to be used by ecosystem players for decision making.
Ecosystem Engagement
Engaging all ecosystem players using different platforms to understand the impact of their work on the contribution of SMMEs to national economies.
Catalyst For Growth Company History
2012 – 2014
In February 2012, J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation and Dalberg began a two-year pilot programme in South Africa called Catalyst for Growth, to measure what impact effective BDS can have on a small business’s ability to survive, grow, and become investment-ready. Aurik and Raizcorp, two best-in-class incubators, were chosen for the pilot.
2015 – 2017
In 2015, C4G launched the beta test of the SMME Support Analytics Platform which was developed in collaboration with BDS providers. Nineteen BDS Providers received access to the beta version of the platform and in 2017 C4G launched its first Annual SMME Support Analytics report.
2018+
Using lessons from the Beta phase of the platform, C4G added new features to the Analytics Platform and added benchmarking metrics and reporting to the annual report. In addition to the platform, C4G developed a suite of M&E services specifically targeted at BDS providers and Buyers of BDS.
Here's What Our Clients Are Saying
SAB Foundation
Director, Bridgit EvansThe SAB Foundation has been part of the stakeholder group that has been working with and benefiting from the work of C4G since its inception in 2015 and has been part of the evolution of the role of C4G's work from the Beta phase right through to the post Beta phase. We have been sharing data over the period and have been part of the learning sessions and trends gleaned from the data collected from many other BDSPs in the ecosystem. The cloud-based platform assists its partners to collect SMME performance data and helps many organisations, including our own, to track the performance of our SMME cohorts over time. The reports produced by the platform are independently verified and the benchmark reports are most useful for us in benchmarking the performance of our cohorts with similar data populations in the data set.
GrowSupplierZA
Florence Musundwa, Project HeadWe recently contracted C4G to design and undertake a review of our various GrowSupplier ZA Roadshow events which spanned over several months. They were required to produce an " Impact Assessment Study" in April 2019. Through the partnership of this project, we saw the value of working with C4G, as an independent development agency that specialises in Monitoring and Evaluation within the entrepreneurial development ecosystem. We worked swiftly with the C4G team from developing the project plan, creating the monitoring tools, data analysis and writing the report. The exercise gave us an opportunity to not only evaluate the impact of our various interventions, but it also helped us identify gaps for improvement work."
Current C4G BDS Provider Clients