Impact strategy: Pharo 3.0
A ten-year, mission-led strategy across education, water and productivity, to become a vibrant, productive and self-reliant force by 2035.
Pharo 3.0: our ten-year strategy to 2035.
The first full year of Pharo 3.0.
In 2025 we delivered the first full year of Pharo 3.0, our ten-year strategy and operating model through to 2035, anchored in a simple vision: an economically vibrant, productive, self-reliant Africa.
Across all three missions we apply a private-sector approach to long-term public good: high standards, disciplined execution, and a bias toward sustainability. We have shifted from a legacy of grant-giving toward direct delivery, where our in-country teams are accountable for outcomes.
This work is enabled by Pharo Management and governed by a diverse Board of Trustees, who have entrusted us to deliver lasting impact across East Africa through to 2035.
Why the operating model had to evolve.
The global development ecosystem is shifting decisively toward sustainable, direct-delivery, private-sector-disciplined models. With traditional aid flows contracting, the sector has been forced to prioritise operational sustainability, blended finance and measurable returns.
Standing still was not an option. A model built for one era of development funding would not hold in the next, and the question was never whether to change, but how far.
Where Pharo 3.0 focuses
The four areas that carry the mission to 2035, set through consultation between management, trustees, the family office and the founder.
Pharo Schools
Developing and operating a self-sustaining network of high-quality schools.
Pharo Ventures
For-profit businesses that create jobs and generate local capital.
Pharo Development
Public-good programmes: water, education, productivity and health.
Health care
Laboratory and diagnostic capability in underserved markets.
The 2035 ambition
What success looks like under Pharo 3.0.
How we operate
Operating cadence.
A consistent review rhythm across the organisation creates transparency, enables faster decisions, and ensures disciplined follow-through across countries and units.
Financial discipline.
Stronger controls and predictable planning, with Business Central as the ERP backbone and Planful for financial planning and analysis.
Pipeline discipline.
Development, ventures and partnerships are run as three structured pipelines, so ideas progress from concept to investment with rigour.
Sustainability focus.
Programmes are designed to operate and grow without perpetual support, with ventures supporting country offices by 2030 and the mission by 2035.
Invest in the 2035 vision.
For family offices, philanthropists and foundations exploring operator-led capital deployment.