About us
Scaled Impact is a social enterprise based in Johannesburg and Berlin.
Scaled Impact identifies, structures and implements high quality solutions and projects for economic growth in unaddressed, mainly rural areas. We do this on our own account as a project developer and as an advisor to third parties.
Our focus:
We source, define and develop projects that create markets for producers and have the greatest benefit for the poorest people.
Despite the popular vision of Africa as the continent of endless, untapped veld there is a serious shortage of land. Either because it is owned and in very small parcels, or it is of too low quality to be cultivated. Where regulation is weak and oversight challenging, as in much of central Africa, farmers are expanding into forests, cutting back trees and reducing habitats and biodiversity. On top of the scarcity of land, yields are among the lowest in the world.
This is changing however and Scaled Impact is part of the solution. We create opportunities to unlock potential, protect biodiversity, make markets and raise incomes by taking a risk role and investing in the early stages, bringing the necessary parties together including site owners, technology specialists, operators and finance providers.
Our goal
Our goal is a portfolio of commercial investments with high community integration driving long-term economic and social development across Southern Africa.
Our Approach
We take elements from existing development projects and take them to scale by embedding them in a commercial framework. These elements can be some variety of the production methods developed, the infrastructure used, the processing technologies or storage and logistics concepts. We establish the economic viability of potential projects and work with communities and partners in the value chain to structure operations and financial models.
During the period of ramp up and growth from pilot status to full scale operation we provide end-to-end value chain co-ordination. This addresses the fundamental market failure that smaller smaller players face. They lack the scale and organization to be able to take the lessons they have learned and apply them to the point where they have sustained revenues and bankable business cases. We fill this gap and in so doing create a pipeline of projects and cases for both development and commercial finance institutions to support.
Our People
Our team has built and run businesses and development programmes across Africa, Europe and Latin America
We have expertise in development strategy, project structuring, finance & industrial innovation
We have the capabilities, drive and long-term perspective needed to get value chains working.
Manager
Thabile Mgwebi
Thabile is an environmental and water engineer with experience in economic development in rural communities.
She holds an MSc in Water and Coastal Management from the University of Oldenburg in Germany, an MSc in Environmental and Infrastructure Planning from the University of Groningen, Netherlands and a BSc in Environmental Geology from the University of Pretoria.
An MSc thesis was on the failure of water projects due to a focus on technical execution to the exclusion of social values.
She is based in Cameroon.
Analyst
Anele Mazibuko
Anele studied Commerce at the University of Witwatersrand, specialized in marketing and human resources.
She has worked as a marketing expert and programme lead for several companies in SA including the Women Enabled Enterprises.
She is passionate about development and leads the operations of Umoya Foods, a Scaled Impact venture connecting smallholder farmers to high value retail markets.
Director
Chelsea Paull
Chelsea studied sociology at the University of Johannesburg, sustainable development at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and human development and food security at University Roma Tre, Rome.
Her focus is on agricultural and sustainable social development initiatives. She has supported numerous projects for groups including the World Food Programme, the Carbon Advisory Service and Food & Trees for Africa.
Chelsea has particular interest and expertise in project development that supports rural communities, benefiting smaller players in value chains to improve overall food security.
Senior Advisor
David Harding
David is a professional 'retired chap.'
He has a long career in managing chemicals plant operations and organizations primarily in Europe and Africa. Among other positions he was deputy CEO of African Explosives Limited and of DetNet, leading their manufacturing operations around the world.
He is an expert in establishing and running complex operations in emerging markets.
He can, occasionally, be found at the wheel of an Austin Healey.
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Senior Advisor
Constanze Schmidt-Rhode
Constanze is a strategy consultant with experience in the Pharmaceutical, MedTech, and Healthcare industry. She is currently based in Rome/Italy and Washington D.C./USA.
She is strongly interested in "health innovation", consulting young, innovative start-ups in the Health and Wellness sector on strategic topics. As a Private Equity Health Principal at Kearney, she focused on European Healthcare investment opportunities.
For large international Pharmaceutical and MedTech clients Constanze managed strategy projects with specialization in R&D and portfolio related questions.
Constanze is a medical doctor with a Dr.med. in Infectious Diseases with focus on "Tb epidemiology in the Western Cape of South Africa" from the University of Hamburg (Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine).
She holds a further degree in Enterprise Management and Entrepreneurship from the University of Cape Town and co-founded the South Africa based venture 'Whippit' in 2009.
Associate
Aobakwe Lenkwe
Aobakwe holds an MSc in Freshwater Chemistry and Environmental monitoring from the University of the Witwatersrand.
She has experience in social impact measuring and monitoring, stakeholder engagement, SROI and environmental monitoring. She has also worked with land-owning communities to develop agri-wildlife economies, contributing to creating sustainable local economies through bio-diversity-based models.
She has an understanding of sustainable development practices and the importance of community involvement in driving socio-economic change. Aobakwe is committed to empowering under-served communities and helping people realize their true power.
Associate
Manisha Mathai
Manisha holds an MSc in Development Economics from Symbiosis International University and an MA in Public Policy from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.
She has run strategy projects across mining supply chains, and food and renewable energy value chains, focused on regional economic development and income generation.
Prior to joining Scaled Impact, she worked on social development initiatives in India, where she designed and managed large scale data collection programmes to support program evaluation and improvement.
Director
Martin Sprott
Martin studied law and international political economy, both at the London School of Economics. He built the Africa practice of A.T. Kearney, advising organizations across the continent in telecoms, energy, mining and manufacturing.
He has worked as a commodity trader, a strategy consultant and managing director of an electronics company.
Martin has worked with large companies, government agencies and multilateral organizations across Europe, Africa and Asia to create new businesses, to restructure operations, to become more sustainable and to serve people better.
He is a non-resident fellow of the Global Public Policy Institute.
Senior Advisor
Nigel Barker
Professor Nigel Barker is a senior advisor to Scaled Impact, advising on biodiversity issues affecting project development.
Nigel is with the University of Pretoria in the faculty of Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. Before that he was with Rhodes University.
His area of training was plant taxonomy and systematics. He has researched the evolutionary relationships among plants and animals, using DNA to understand current distribution patterns.
Nigel has a particular interest in mountain biodiversity and ecosystems, particularly on the Great Escarpment area and, more recently, the Waterberg mountains in Limpopo, South Africa.