Investing in Social Innovation and Technology in Tanzania

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Investing in Social Innovation and Technology in Tanzania • CUSTOMISING APPROACHES TO ENABLE INNOVATIONSinsights from grantees and contributing to thedevelopment of HDIF’s knowledge products.2.1.5 Aim for positive workingrelationships with innovators based ontrustAs well as being able to thrive in the local ecosystem,grantees also need exposure to cutting-edgeglobal knowledge in social entrepreneurship,impact investing, development sectors (e.g.health, education and WASH), and more. Technicalpartners and advisors can provide that exposureand foster long-term relationships. Trust betweenthe project and the grantee is necessary for both tofeel comfortable proposing and making significantadaptations over time.HDIF’s relationship approach to granteemanagementA grantee’s experience with HDIF is structured asa triangle involving the grantee, the ProgrammeManager (PM) and Technical Assistant (TA) andcharacterised by an open-door attitude and selectinteractions and tools. This triangular structure isitself a learning mechanism, allowing innovatorsto learn and adapt their model and their need forsupport and technical assistance; and for the projectto learn and adapt the balance between applied anddemand-driven support from the PM and TA eachgrantee required.Using grantee self-assessment is both an HDIF tooland approach that promotes learning as a priorityover simple reporting. The self-assessment toolitself was adapted over time with inputs from thegrantees using it. It came to include sections thatrequired honest self-reflection on partner andother stakeholder relationships, the performanceof different components of their model, andmanagement and leadership issues.Providing dedicated resources for relationshipmanagement between the innovator and funder hasenabled HDIF to be sensitive to the people designingand implementing a model and their specific needs.Participants collaborateduring a workshop atInnovation Week 2018.HDIF28
Investing in Social Innovation and Technology in Tanzania • CUSTOMISING APPROACHES TO ENABLE INNOVATIONSEliguard Dawson,Country Director, DOTTanzania with JosephManirakiza, DeputyTeam Leader, HDIF.HDIFPMs and TAs have found several instances in whichmanagement and leadership skills needed seasonedguidance and perspective in effectively motivatingand coaching the teams involved in all aspects oftheir model. Moreover, a relationship managementapproach provides flexibility in grant timeline toallow for the right adaptations to be made wellrather than contributing to the stress of complianceto the business plan.2.2 RecommendationInvest IN and encouragecollaborative partnershipsCross-sector collaborative partnerships can bringtogether diverse expertise across disciplines tomeet a common goal. Identifying and engagingthe right partners is critical to achieving long-termsustainable change.HDIF has found that all of its most successfulinnovations are driven by purposeful partnershipsthat leverage core competencies and advantagesof the partners. Due in part to the early stage ofthe innovation ecosystem in Tanzania, innovationsneed a cluster of institutions and leaders to havethe capacity, patience, and resources to navigatethe route to scale.The best performing HDIF grantees have clearlydefined partnerships governed by agreements orother formal arrangements with roles that alignwith each partners’ strengths. In contrast, many ofthe grantees who worked alone, with no partners,were not successful, closed early, or experiencedsignificant challenges in scaling their model.2.2.1 Design flexible mechanisms thatsupport programme adaptationThe ability for a complex programme like HDIF toadapt is based on in-depth learning and insightscombined with donor and implementing partnerwillingness, support, and investment to makechanges that are sometimes significant. Flexibility isalso built into HDIF’s log frame, a living documentthat is reviewed openly and critically on an annualbasis but without too much rigidity in the reviewcycle. This has empowered HDIF to implement anyrequired changes quickly. The targets in the logframeSustainabilitycan be social,economic, orenvironmental.Sustainabilityis the ability tocontinue a definedbehaviour oractivity indefinitely.In a developmentcontext,sustainabilityusually meansthe ability of anorganisation tosustain its activitiesindependently byreliably generatingthe necessary cashflow.29
Page 1 and 2: I n v e s t i n g i nS o c i a l I
Page 3 and 4: Investing in Social Innovation and
Page 9 and 10: F i v e Y e a r s o f S o c i a l I
Page 23 and 24: A man utilising the improvedwater s
Page 27: Investing in Social Innovation and
Page 33 and 34: Secondary school studentstest their
Page 39 and 40: 39

Investing in Social Innovation and Technology in Tanzania

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?