Leveraging the recently concluded two-day Imo Economic and Investment Summit held in Owerri, two international outfits, Calpe Partners USA and Africa Business Affairs (AfriBA), have expressed willingness to partner with the Imo State government under the “One Kindred, One Business Initiative” (OKOBI) Microenterprise Growth Platform.

The Special Adviser to the Imo State Governor on Public Enlightenment, Prince Eze Ugochukwu, disclosed this on Sunday night to The Guardian, adding that the state government had identified other investors, business leaders, and institutions worldwide closely monitoring the initiative.

According to him, under the Microenterprise Growth Platform, OKOBI would benefit over 1,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), projected to achieve over N600 billion in economic impact by 2028.

The statement read: “Just days after the lights dimmed on the 2025 Imo State Economic Summit, its impact has continued to ripple outward, reaching investors, business leaders, and institutions watching closely from across the world. Among those impressed by the conversations and commitments emerging from the summit were Calpe Partners USA and Africa Business Affairs (AfriBA).
“Moved by Imo State’s bold demonstration of community-driven economic ambition, these organisations have initiated a collaboration that has now birthed one of Africa’s most promising enterprise development models: the ‘One Kindred, One Business Initiative’ (OKOBI) Microenterprise Growth Platform.”

He expressed optimism on the outcome of the summit: “The summit presented a tapestry of bold ideas and commitments, with OKOBI emerging as one of the pivotal expressions of that vision; investors recognised its potential, and together they have set in motion a model that may redefine how communities across Africa build wealth, create jobs, and scale enterprises from the ground up.”

Ugochukwu informed that under the business initiative, the platform would accelerate a 16-week system blending pooled community capital, shared services, AI-enabled enterprise tracking, and a wide portfolio of business management support, designed to transform MSMEs into scalable, investable businesses in the state.

The Special Adviser stressed that the OKOBI model originated in Imo State under the leadership of Hope Uzodimma, adding that the governor’s address during the summit clarified its grassroots economic transformation focus, which convinced Calpe Partners USA and AfriBA to accept partnership at a continental level.

He identified the derivable benefits and rationale behind the initiative: “Africa’s 44 million micro-enterprises, which account for more than 60% of jobs and 40% of GDP, still capture only 2% of global MSME capital flows. The summit amplified this disparity, and the OKOBI platform emerged as a direct response.”

Ugochukwu disclosed that the Managing Director of AfriBA, Mrs Jovita Agwu, had espoused the potential of the new model, stressing, “With this service platform, we now have a scalable mechanism to ensure community enterprises move from survival to growth, and from growth to shared wealth. OKOBI communities are not just beneficiaries; they are engines of economic transformation.”

He explained that the OKOBI Microenterprise Growth Platform introduced an innovation blended with a finance injection system that channels pooled capital through flexible revenue-sharing agreements, adding that it has “automated repayments [that] recycle capital across cohorts, keeping the system self-sustaining while balancing social impact, financial returns, and early-stage risk. It bridges the space between microfinance and traditional private equity, a gap long recognised but rarely addressed at scale.”

On another note, he disclosed that the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Calpe Partners would work with OKOBI, adopting the micro-private equity approach of the initiative as a new chapter for African enterprise: “The OKOBI MSME Growth Platform marks a shift from short-term empowerment programmes to a long-term economic system. We are building the structure our small businesses need to thrive, scale, and compete, right here in Imo State.”

He continued: “Based on our projections for the first 1,000 participating MSMEs across Africa, the platform is expected to deliver by 2028: 30% plus MSME growth; 20,000 plus jobs created; ₦8B in deployed capital; ₦15B in revenue gains; and ₦600B plus in total economic impact.
“Calpe and AfriBA are working with a network of partnering institutions, including the Imo Agribusiness Network, Paysoko, Innopower Africa, and Evatech, to bridge the gap between microfinance and private equity. They plan to launch the OKOBI Growth Platform programme with at least 20 businesses in Imo State, Nigeria, and leverage learnings from the initial cohort to scale across more African markets,” Ugochukwu clarified.