Unilever, FCDO & EY celebrate ten years of collaboration, backing 42 enterprises in East Africa and reaching 1.9m+ lives
NAIROBI, KENYA, January 21, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Today, TRANSFORM, an impact accelerator that supports visionary enterprises across Asia and Africa, celebrates over 10 years of game-changing collaboration. Since its launch in 2015, the initiative has supported 42 enterprises in East Africa, reaching over 1.9 million lives, from business owners, to workers, customers and people in the wider community.
With TRANSFORM’s support, these enterprises have generated tangible benefits for local communities and the environment, for example, since 2022:
- Nearly 3,400 direct jobs created
- Over 85,800 customers benefitted from enterprise products and services
- 8,615 tonnes of waste diverted from landfills
- Additionally, over the past decade, the enterprises raised over KES 3.6bn* (£21.2 million) in follow-on funding.
Luck Ochieng, General Manager, Unilever East Africa shares: “In East Africa, local entrepreneurs are delivering some of the most powerful solutions to global development challenges, from creating functional waste management systems to providing jobs and livelihoods. Embedded within the communities they serve, these innovators are uniquely positioned to create practical, context-driven approaches. Some of their solutions have also been embedded into our supply chain, contributing to Unilever’s sustainability goals on plastics and livelihoods through innovation, collaboration and lasting behaviour change.”
---Spotlight on enterprise projects---
TRANSFORM has achieved significant results with enterprises on individual projects in East Africa. This includes collaborating with:
- Gwiji to connect over 3,350 women from low-income communities in Nairobi and Mombasa with dignified cleaning jobs. Today, Gwiji’s cleaners complete 1-2 cleaning gigs a day, raising their average income from less than $2 to $8 per day.
- Ecobora to deploy solar-powered cookstoves in five underfunded Kenyan schools in rural areas, replacing traditional firewood to cut fuel costs, reduce carbon emissions, and improve health outcomes for thousands of students.
- Association of Green Champions (AGC) to train 1,252 Gum Arabic collectors in sustainable harvesting practices, establish Acacia tree nurseries to support reforestation, and connect farmers with commercial buyers.
- Eco Brixs to recycle over 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually in Uganda, transforming it into affordable construction materials while creating 3,500 additional green jobs and driving a circular economy that benefits local communities.
---Uniting industry leaders and government to transform lives---
Led by Unilever, the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and EY, the initiative is a unique example of a long lasting public-private partnership - combining grant funding with the different skills, networks and resources of each organisation to help impact enterprises scale into thriving, self-sustaining businesses tackling global development challenges. The programme has been running for the past decade and has:
- Supported over 140 impact enterprises worldwide, reaching over 19 million lives – growing from 10 million in 2023, almost doubling its impact in just two years.
- Seen 750 employees from EY and Unilever sharing their business knowledge to help enterprises unlock their potential.
- Hosted seven regionally led challenges, since 2023, to find new enterprises. This put decision-making power into the hands of local colleagues from Unilever, EY and the British High Commission across East, West and Southern Africa, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Hadijah Nannyomo, Partner, EY Kenya shares: “With a strong 10-year track record, TRANSFORM’s win-win model is an example of the incredible impact we can achieve by combining our strengths. Leveraging our EY people’s skills, knowledge and networks, TRANSFORM provides tailored business support to scale inspiring entrepreneurs, fostering innovation that has ripple effects across the ecosystem. TRANSFORM’s combined support has helped validate these innovative ideas, enabling our enterprises across East Africa to raise over KES 3.6bn* in follow-on funding and further scale their impactful solutions. We are proud to help create a better future for everyone, together.”
With TRANSFORM’s support, these enterprises have generated tangible benefits for local communities and the environment, for example, since 2022:
- Nearly 3,400 direct jobs created
- Over 85,800 customers benefitted from enterprise products and services
- 8,615 tonnes of waste diverted from landfills
- Additionally, over the past decade, the enterprises raised over KES 3.6bn* (£21.2 million) in follow-on funding.
Luck Ochieng, General Manager, Unilever East Africa shares: “In East Africa, local entrepreneurs are delivering some of the most powerful solutions to global development challenges, from creating functional waste management systems to providing jobs and livelihoods. Embedded within the communities they serve, these innovators are uniquely positioned to create practical, context-driven approaches. Some of their solutions have also been embedded into our supply chain, contributing to Unilever’s sustainability goals on plastics and livelihoods through innovation, collaboration and lasting behaviour change.”
---Spotlight on enterprise projects---
TRANSFORM has achieved significant results with enterprises on individual projects in East Africa. This includes collaborating with:
- Gwiji to connect over 3,350 women from low-income communities in Nairobi and Mombasa with dignified cleaning jobs. Today, Gwiji’s cleaners complete 1-2 cleaning gigs a day, raising their average income from less than $2 to $8 per day.
- Ecobora to deploy solar-powered cookstoves in five underfunded Kenyan schools in rural areas, replacing traditional firewood to cut fuel costs, reduce carbon emissions, and improve health outcomes for thousands of students.
- Association of Green Champions (AGC) to train 1,252 Gum Arabic collectors in sustainable harvesting practices, establish Acacia tree nurseries to support reforestation, and connect farmers with commercial buyers.
- Eco Brixs to recycle over 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually in Uganda, transforming it into affordable construction materials while creating 3,500 additional green jobs and driving a circular economy that benefits local communities.
---Uniting industry leaders and government to transform lives---
Led by Unilever, the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and EY, the initiative is a unique example of a long lasting public-private partnership - combining grant funding with the different skills, networks and resources of each organisation to help impact enterprises scale into thriving, self-sustaining businesses tackling global development challenges. The programme has been running for the past decade and has:
- Supported over 140 impact enterprises worldwide, reaching over 19 million lives – growing from 10 million in 2023, almost doubling its impact in just two years.
- Seen 750 employees from EY and Unilever sharing their business knowledge to help enterprises unlock their potential.
- Hosted seven regionally led challenges, since 2023, to find new enterprises. This put decision-making power into the hands of local colleagues from Unilever, EY and the British High Commission across East, West and Southern Africa, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Hadijah Nannyomo, Partner, EY Kenya shares: “With a strong 10-year track record, TRANSFORM’s win-win model is an example of the incredible impact we can achieve by combining our strengths. Leveraging our EY people’s skills, knowledge and networks, TRANSFORM provides tailored business support to scale inspiring entrepreneurs, fostering innovation that has ripple effects across the ecosystem. TRANSFORM’s combined support has helped validate these innovative ideas, enabling our enterprises across East Africa to raise over KES 3.6bn* in follow-on funding and further scale their impactful solutions. We are proud to help create a better future for everyone, together.”
Will Kirk
Forster Communications
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