WeSeeHope, a charity supported by FIA and Futures for Kids, provides children in Sub-Saharan Africa who are vulnerable to isolation, exploitation and lack of opportunity with access to community-led education, child rights and economic empowerment programmes.
MarketVoice spoke to CEO Steve Murigi about the charity’s innovative Village Investors Programme, how financial literacy is transforming entire communities, and why collaboration with organisations in the cleared derivatives industry is key to scaling long-term and measurable impact.
‘Hope is agency’
The word ‘hope’ can seem elusive and abstract when it comes to tackling deep-rooted social issues like those addressed at WeSeeHope.
As CEO Steve Murigi puts it, “Hope is agency.”
" It is the moment a child realises they can shape their own future, and a community recognises that they already have the knowledge and resources to improve their lives... Hope becomes practical when it is backed by opportunity."
For Murigi, hope is not abstract. It is pragmatic and visible. He recalls a moment from last year that encapsulated WeSeeHope’s entire mission.
“I sat with a group of women in rural Malawi who had started one of our Village Investors Programme groups. One of them, Regina, a mother of four, told me she had just paid her first-born son’s university fees entirely from her own business profits, the first in her family to go to university. She called him over to speak to us while we were there, and I will never forget the pride in her eyes. I recognised it instantly because it is the same pride my own mother shows when I go home to Kenya. She knows that investing in my education changed all of our lives. That moment captured everything for me: confidence, dignity, and control over one’s destiny. That is when I knew our approach was working.”
Empowering communities through financial inclusion
WeSeehope runs a Village Investors Programme aimed at building financial literacy and resilience from the ground up. It takes around £1,000 to establish a group of about 30 members, who collectively care for 90 children on average. That investment covers training, mentoring, and the materials needed to set up the group. After that, the group becomes self-sustaining. Members begin saving small amounts each week, pooling their resources, and lending to one another to start or expand small businesses.
“The returns are remarkable. In many cases, groups go on to generate or save up to ten times the initial investment. Since 2014, the combined total generated by these community groups has reached £6,518,852. To be clear, that is their own money.” Murigi says.
This model differs from the usual foreign aid. It promotes investment in human potential and inclusion with measurable results.
“We have the data tracking each group’s progress and financial growth, and we are incredibly proud of what it shows. The members elect their own leaders, keep transparent records, and make all financial decisions collectively. The model delivers both economic and social returns, proving that when you trust people with knowledge and opportunity, they create lasting change,” Murigi explains.
Much of the work at WeSeeHope is rooted in financial education and enterprise. Murigi notes that most children and youth respond well to this approach. Many of their programmes involve financial education, entrepreneurship, and savings. Murigi explains why financial empowerment is so central to their mission:
“Our work is about breaking the cycle of poverty that robs children of their childhood, safety, and opportunity. We help children go to and stay in school. But we know that for this to happen, they must be fed, cared for, and supported. That is why financial empowerment is central to our mission. Stability and opportunity go hand in hand. Financially secure homes and communities provide the protection and support that children need to thrive.”
“Young people respond to financial education with real excitement. Once they understand how it works, they begin to see possibilities where none previously existed. They learn to plan, to save, to access capital, to invest wisely within their context, and to work together to build something lasting. They experience the power of collective saving, seeing first hand how pooling resources strengthens families and communities. It builds confidence, creativity, and ambition.”
Poverty is about more than a lack of income — it is often rooted in exclusion from knowledge, opportunity, and access to financial systems that help people build and safeguard their livelihoods. Financial inclusion transforms this reality. Through the Village Investors Programme, WeSeeHope supports communities to move beyond subsistence and towards lasting self-reliance, amplifying their agency. “When people understand how to save, invest, and manage risk, they make confident choices that transform their families and their futures,.” Murigi says.
Vision and Support
With confidence in its model having seen tremendous results, Weseehope is now focused on scale, depth and sustainability. Over the past 25 years, WeSeeHope has reached more than 840,000 people, including over 730,000 children, across some of the most under-resourced communities in Africa. Today, they work with more than 70,000 people each year, including nearly 50,000 children, through proven, measurable and built-to-last programmes.
“The results are clear. In schools we support, enrolment has nearly doubled, and more students are completing their education. Through our Village Investors Programme, families are building lasting savings and independence, with returns of between four and ten times the initial investment. Young people who once had no income are now running small enterprises and earning enough to support themselves and their families.
“Our goal is to build on this success and double our impact in the years ahead, with twice as many children thriving in school and twice as many families achieving long-term financial security. The model is proven, measurable and ready to scale. With the right partnerships and investment, we can extend its reach to tens of thousands more, ensuring that communities continue to build stability and opportunity from within.”
FIA has supported WeSeeHope through its partnership with Future for Kids (FFK), the futures industry’s charitable foundation.Through this longstanding partnership and with the help of many firms across the financial services industry, WeSeeHope has supported tens of thousands of children each year.
“Organisations like FIA, and others across the industry, continue to play a vital role by sharing time, talent, and resources. This means lending expertise and insight to strengthen our approach to financial literacy and enterprise. It means investing resources to expand the reach of our programmes, particularly the Village Investors Programme, helping more families and young people build savings, start businesses, and secure lasting stability. And it means connecting networks that can amplify our impact and help us scale- proven solutions across Africa.”
If you would like to learn more about WeSeeHope’s mission, visit:
Website: https://www.weseehope.org.uk/
