WELCOME
Ensemble Pour La Difference
Despite an abundance of natural resources, Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most challenged countries on earth. It has a desperate history of exploitation and conflict, and remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with 77% living in extreme poverty. There are many NGOs operating in the region. However, their focus is on solving emergencies and acute problems and very few NGOs are helping people to build the economy and to strengthen people’s resolve for a peaceful future.
Ensemble Pour La Difference was set up in 2014 by Mike Beeston, a successful British entrepreneur, and Patrick Byamungu, a Congolese journalist and businessman, in Bukavu, in the south-east of the country. Ensemble aims to aid sustainable development by providing financial, business and technology support to social businesses operating there. It has a team in DRC that ensures that this support is effectively deployed, and that monitors and evaluates the performance of the businesses.
Financial support is ordinarily provided through loans, which is highly efficient, with each dollar raised through fundraising being used several times over and therefore having an amplified impact. Ensemble currently supports 12 businesses, and has approximately $400,000 on loan. In total, we estimate that approximately 500,000 people have so far benefitted from Ensemble’s support, and our aim is to increase this number to 2 million over the next five years.
Over time, our aim is to make Ensemble self-sufficient, by developing income from services in DRC and by building the scale of the operation to cover the costs of the local team. However, growth in the short/medium term will require additional funds and a new UK-registered charity, Ensemble UK, was set up in the summer of 2017 to focus on this. Our initial medium-term target is to raise $3 million, which will be used to increase the loan book and to invest in the Ensemble infrastructure in DRC. We see the Ensemble model as being replicable – either elsewhere in DRC or in other countries - and will evaluate potential opportunities alongside developing our operation in Bukavu. We are now starting to build a team to support this effort, including a fundraising manager and a finance and operations manager.
While the team will initially be small, Mike Beeston works full-time on Ensemble, and the other trustees are closely involved in the operation and will be there to provide support and direction. Additionally, there is a sizeable network of highly-skilled volunteers who support Ensemble - from the UK and elsewhere in Europe - and with whom the full-time team will be closely engaged.
The finance and operations manager is a wide-ranging role, which will provide exposure to all aspects of financial management. It represents a fantastic opportunity for someone with intelligence, drive and versatility to shape the development and future of Ensemble, and to make a real difference in the world.
