#72: From Add-on to Operating System: Rethinking the Role of Services in Local Value Creation
In this episode, Joy Anderson is joined by Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners co-founders Eric Kacou and Charity Kabango to explore what it truly takes to build thriving businesses and markets across Africa. Together, they challenge familiar impact investing narratives and offer a radically different way of thinking that centers entrepreneurs as human beings embedded in complex ecosystems.
The conversation ranges from hope and value creation to the often overlooked power of the service economy, asking what markets need in order to actually work. With insight drawn from years of partnership through the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, this episode invites listeners to rethink expertise and imagine what becomes possible when we design economies around dignity, choice, and investable hope.
Episode Highlights
00:00 - Introduction to the Criterion Institute Podcast
02:14 - The Genesis of Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners (ESP)
06:21 - Centering Entrepreneurs in Their Context
10:16 - Understanding the Ecosystem and Entrepreneurial Challenges
14:25 - The Survival Trap and Systemic Change
18:30 - Collaboration and the Role of Service Providers
22:16 - Power Dynamics and Choice in Entrepreneurship
26:08 - Investable Hope and Capital Allocation
30:41 - Pre-Investment Value Creation Services
34:32 - The Importance of Service Providers in the Economy
38:04 - Investing in Service Businesses
40:54 - Building Infrastructure for Productivity
42:56 - Hope and Future Aspirations
Relevant Links
• Criterion Institute website and LinkedIn
• Joy’s LinkedIn
• Eric's LinkedIn
• Charity's LinkedIn
• Episode #57: Investable Hope: A Conversation with Susie Pan on Financing the Future
• Investing in Africa’s Future: A Roadmap to Dignified and Fulfilling Job Creation
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