The recently concluded two-day Imo Economic and Investment Summit in Owerri continues to generate interest beyond the state as two international organisations, Calpe Partners USA and Africa Business Affairs (AfriBA), have shown willingness to collaborate with the Imo State government under the “One Kindred, One Business Initiative” (OKOBI) Microenterprise Growth Platform. This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to the Imo State Governor on Public Enlightenment, Prince Eze Ugochukwu, who said the state has also identified other investors and institutions around the world monitoring the initiative closely.
According to him, the OKOBI Microenterprise Growth Platform is designed to benefit over 1,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the state, with projections of achieving more than N600 billion in economic impact by 2028. The statement noted, “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).”
The organisations were said to be moved by Imo State’s “bold demonstration of community-driven economic ambition”, leading to a collaboration which Ugochukwu described as one of Africa’s most promising enterprise development models.
He said, “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.”
The Special Adviser explained that the initiative would operate through a 16-week system combining pooled community capital, shared services, AI-enabled enterprise tracking, and a mix of business support structured to grow small businesses into scalable ventures.
He noted that the OKOBI model was created in Imo State under Governor Hope Uzodimma, adding that the governor’s summit speech clarified its grassroots economic focus, which helped convince Calpe Partners USA and AfriBA to enter into partnership at a continental level.
Ugochukwu highlighted the challenges the initiative seeks to address, stating that Africa has around 44 million micro-enterprises responsible for more than 60 percent of jobs and 40 percent of GDP, but these businesses only access 2 percent of global MSME capital flows. “The summit amplified this disparity, and the OKOBI platform emerged as a direct response,” he noted.
He revealed that AfriBA’s Managing Director, Mrs Jovita Agwu, had emphasised the potential of the initiative for wealth creation. She said, “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.”
The OKOBI Microenterprise Growth Platform was described as an innovation combining finance injection with flexible revenue-sharing agreements, powered by automated repayment systems that recycle capital within cohorts. This structure, according to Ugochukwu, ensures the model remains self-sustaining while balancing social benefits, financial returns, and early-stage risk. The initiative, he said, “bridges the space between microfinance and traditional private equity, a gap long recognised but rarely addressed at scale.”
Ugochukwu further revealed that the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Calpe Partners would be partnering with the initiative, adopting what was described as a micro-private equity approach to African enterprise development. He added, “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.”
Projections released for the first cohort suggest that the platform would deliver by 2028 more than 30 percent MSME growth, over 20,000 jobs, N8 billion in deployed capital, N15 billion in revenue gains, and more than N600 billion in total economic impact. Ugochukwu explained that Calpe Partners and AfriBA are already collaborating with other institutions including the Imo Agribusiness Network, Paysoko, Innopower Africa, and Evatech.
These partnerships aim to close the financing gap between microfinance and private equity by launching the OKOBI programme with at least 20 businesses in the state, and then scaling the model across other African markets based on lessons from the initial rollout.
He said the summit had laid a foundation for deeper private sector involvement and international partnerships, attracting attention to Imo State’s economic ambitions. According to Ugochukwu, more investors are expected to show interest as the programme evolves, reinforcing the message that grassroots development, if properly structured, can draw global economic participation and create sustainable wealth pathways for communities.
