About the Event
The Collaborative for Frontier Finance (CFF) will be hosting its 5th Annual Convening; an in-person multi-day event at Sawela Lodge, Lake Naivasha, Kenya. This year the track designed for ecosystem stakeholders and institutional investors/LPs is scheduled for 28th February - 2nd March 2025, continuing until 4th March for Early Stage Capital Providers (ESCPs).
The CFF Annual Convening is the only event explicitly focused on ESCPs who address the “missing middle” financing gap in emerging markets.
The event aims to:
Encourage shared learning through open dialogue and market-based discussions to accelerate investment readiness.
Demystify small business finance by building a mutual understanding among ESCPs, ecosystem stakeholders, and institutional investors/LPs.
Introduce emerging pathways and forge new ones to align institutional investment and ESCPs.
Facilitate peer-to-peer learning between ESCP network members, demystify the current LP construct and their role in catalyzing this emerging asset class, and co-create solutions to address systemic bottlenecks.
Details
Buses will be arranged for the 2 hour drive upon arrival and departure from Nairobi and Sawela Lodge.
Each ticket includes accommodation (3 nights for ecosystem stakeholders/institutional investors/LPs, 4 nights for ESCPs), catering of 3 meals a day, bus transportation, and conferencing facilities. The cost of flights is not included.
This is an invite-only event. If you have any questions or are interested in joining us, please email arnold@frontierfinance.org.
By attending this convening, you acknowledge and agree that photographs and videos may be taken and used for public distribution, including but not limited to social media, websites, and promotional materials. If you do not wish to be photographed, please notify the event organizers upon arrival.
How is a Convening different from a Conference?
Answered by Circle Generation
A collective journey. We’re a small group in a shared experience from start to finish. Not a small fish in an ocean of attendees popping in and out of simultaneous sessions and tracks.
It’s participatory. Rather than being in the stands, talked to from a sage on stage, your engagement is essential. Sessions are curated for active sharing and discussions that draw in multiple perspectives.
Flexible spaces. No amphitheatres or classrooms here. We bring people together in a variety of ways through the day, often in circles, rarely around tables. We shapeshift to shape new ideas.
Intentional design. Sessions are crafted to weave experiences and learning over the course of multiple days. What happens at the beginning sets the stage for the fruits that emerge at the end and beyond.
Relationships + Content. Convenings are about connecting people in ways that make more possible. Activities invite play to spark creativity and learning.
Holistic + Diverse. Convenings mix it up to avoid echo chambers and groupthink. We assemble as many perspectives in a system as possible so that we can put our pieces together and become greater than the sum of our parts.
Encouragements
Be courageous – share successes and failures; initiate bold action and adapt to change before things are broken
Practice humility – be humble in the face of complexity; value people and social learning as a process
Integrate perspectives – actively seek out other voices, examine assumptions, and consider multiple worldviews
Co-create from diversity – lean into creative tension and listen for opportunities to bridge differences
Steward the future – hold the bigger picture in view, tell the long-term story
Cultivate the ecosystem – think relationally, act in service of collective flourishing
Foster synergies – champion cross-functional teams and inter-organizational collaborations
Our Previous Convenings
2023 Annual Convening held in Capetown, South Africa
2022 Annual Convening held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
We appreciate our partners
2023 GALLERY
We look forward to seeing you in Lake Naivasha, Kenya.
Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Arnold Byarugaba (arnold@frontierfinance.org).