The Maua business pilot was initiated in 2013 in Kenya in collaboration with Wrigley East Africa. It aimed to provide a new route to market for Wrigley products by engaging consumers in informal settlements and rural areas that were difficult to reach through traditional channels.
Maua unleashes the benefits of entrepreneurship in challenging business contexts through implementing an innovative business model design that engages the non-financial capital present, but typically hidden, within impoverished areas that lack infrastructure and investment.
Today, Maua is a significant contributor to the Wrigley East Africa business, accounting for around 15% of total sales, which exceed USD 7 million. However, financial capital is only part of the story. Maua is assessed holistically and delivers impressive results across human and social capital metrics.
Maua combines the business goal of creating a new route to market with the social goal of improving the income and wellbeing of impoverished communities by expanding the distribution of Wrigley products through local micro-distributors and solving a key “last mile” challenge.
Watch Clara Shen present an overview of Project Maua
Bruno Roche and Jay Jakub
Completing Capitalism
In a typical day, Uplifters and Hawkers gather products from participating Stock Points. Uplifters distribute to kiosk owners and other small-scale vendors. Hawkers collect from Stockpoints and sell directly to the consumer. They are free to also sell non-Wrigley products.
The right cross-sector partners make this business model possible by tapping into cultural and social assets. Citizen sector organizations, including NGOs and academic institutions, offer a deep understanding of community needs, dynamics and social networks.
Maua was quick to deliver success, reporting double-digit growth in 2014. It has demonstrated that a program using the Economics of Mutuality to combine social and business goals can be both financially profitable and scalable.
Starting with just 7 micro-entrepreneurs working in 1 slum area, Maua has since grown to work with approximately 750 micro-entrepreneurs operating from more than 118 Stockpoints throughout Kenya.
For more details and analysis, read the academic case study produced in partnership with the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School.
