Dear Impacc-Friends,

I don’t know where to start this time – so many things have happened since my last newsletter. But I think the unifying theme this time is “welcome, welcome, welcome”: a cool new venture, a cool new product, and a cool new team. But read it for yourselves:

Welcome, Thur Biotech

We have been trying to invest more in Ethiopia for a quite a while now, and believe me it’s not easy. Bureaucracy, conflict, a closed economy. This makes me even more proud that we have closed a deal with what, I believe, is one of the country's most promising startups: Thur Biotech, a maker of bio fertilisers. 

Founder Samson Alemu has found a solution for a real problem that impacts millions: Ethiopia's soil is mostly acidic, which means plants can't process the nutrients in the soil. As a lab technician during COVID, he experimented with bacteria that enable plants to absorb the nutrients. He gave the product to farmers around the lab, they loved it and wanted more. And the rest, as they say, is history. Thur Biotech has grown tenfold in the last three years, they have been profitable from pretty much day one, and now they need money to expand their production big-time. In a country that struggles to import fertilisers reliably, this intervention will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers. I am so pleased that Samson and his team have accepted us as partners in making their big dreams come true.

With Thur Biotech Founder Samson Alemu

And while I am at it: Remember how I recently wrote about TIBU Health – the “shop-in-shop” solution that puts mini clinics into pharmacies? We have been so impressed with their development that we have just increased our investment by another 150k USD to 450k USD so they can build more clinics. Wish them – and us – luck that the investment pays off!

Welcome, Global Jobs Index

I have always been astonished that there is so little reliable data on the global labour force. When I met Prof. Tobias Heidland, Director of the Research Center "International Development" at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, he agreed. What started as an animated discussion about how jobs can be counted, and future developments be projected, has now culminated in the launch of the Global Jobs Index. It is a joint initiative by Impacc and the Kiel Institute, one of Germany’s leading economic think tanks. The Global Jobs Index provides the first scientifically based answer to a simple question: How many jobs does the world need? Where are they lacking today, and where will they be created in the future? It shows the gap between the number of jobseekers and the number of jobs actually available worldwide—from 2000 to 2060. Check it out at www.globaljobsindex.org – but here is a little sneak preview: of the 100 Million new jobs that will be created by the end of the decade, 75% will come from Africa. The German Ambassador to Kenya officially launched the Global Jobs Index in his private residence in Nairobi in November and hosted an impressive panel of Kenyan ministers, multinational business leaders and startup experts to discuss its findings. Nice!

In the garden of the German Embassy in Nairobi

Welcome, Kristian Munsche

Our annual Africa offsite felt a bit strange this year. For the first time, the plan was: just do more of the same.
 
Usually, these trips are about big changes, new ideas, and testing what might work. We go somewhere close to the action, but far enough from the noise to really think. Last year, we had long talks about what to fix, how to grow, and what to try next. 
But this time, something was different. We sat together as a team- Marie-Claire Bartmann, Shiela Birungi, Bilen Dinke Tesfu, Kristian Munsche, Maureern Kitheka - and we realised we didn’t want to change much. The things we built, the way we work, the mission we share, it all feels right. The experiments, the failures, the hard lessons-they brought us here. Now we know what works. No need for a big pivot or a new strategy. Just trust the process and the people.
 
I am deeply grateful for this team. For their skills, their hearts, and the way they make hard work feel joyful. Building something that lasts is never easy, but it’s easier when you’re surrounded by people who care.
 
There is one goal that we have set ourselves, though: Become the most productive nonprofit on the planet.
 
I’ve spent years in the nonprofit world, always asking myself how we can do more with less. The old way is heavy on admin, slow to change, and too focused on headcount. But I believe nonprofits can learn from the best businesses: cut waste, focus on real impact, and keep growing without growing the team.
 
And that's where Kristian comes in, a tech expert with a love for efficiency. His mission? To automate, simplify, and make every hour count. We want to prove that it’s possible to double our impact each year, without doubling the team or the budget.
 
Our dream is to turn Impacc into a lean, fast-moving engine for change. That means less paperwork, more action. More jobs created, less money spent on overhead. We aim to show that donations can be invested wisely, tracked for real results, and used to build strong, lasting businesses in Africa.
 
I’ll keep sharing our progress-the wins and the mistakes. If we get this right, we can help more founders, create more jobs, and set a new standard for what nonprofits can achieve.

The Impacc team at "work" 

Thank you for being part of our journey, Till