Starting or growing a faith-driven business in East Africa?
You've come to the right Community!
AVODA Institute’s programs are designed specifically to help Christian entrepreneurs in East Africa grow revenue, create social impact, and become transformative businesses for Christ – all from within a warm, international community of like-passioned, faith-driven business people.
AVODA in numbers
Our Programs
* Please apply for all programs through our AVICS platform using the button above
AVODA Masterclass
What’s included:
AVODA Essentials
What’s included:
Our program modules
Business Strategy And The Kingdom of God
A highly engaged business strategy module derived from the top MBA programs in the world, but delivered in the specific contexts of Africa’s start-up scene and the Christian mandate of “avodah (work is worship and service)”.
Duration: 2 Weeks
Start-up Teams: Leadership & Followership
A deep dive into how both Christ-like leadership and “followership” are critical for an effective team, and how to balance the four components of leadership – the leader, body, vision, and individual follower.
Duration: 2 Weeks
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) Pilot Projects: Your Roadmap to Sales
A hands-on guide on how to cheaply but accurately test the viability of your product or service using live (i.e. real money) exercises to validate assumptions on pricing, demand, and client personas.
Duration: 2 Weeks
Breakthrough Sales
A relentlessly practical module on the whole process of successful sales, including the components of prospect research, pricing models, psychology, creating game-plans, speech and vocabulary, and follow-up.
Duration: 1 Week
Ideation Fieldtrips
Curated visits to a wide selection of local small, medium, and large businesses, meeting with their CEOs, founders, and management teams while sampling their products and services.
Duration: 1 Week
Operations: Working Smart & Creating Consistency
A critical module that tackles one of the biggest obstacles standing between start-ups and true growth – inefficient and/or inconsistent processes and workflows that limit scale.
Duration: 1 Week
Entrepreneurial Finance & Bookkeeping
This module customizes financial management and bookkeeping for African entrepreneurs, recognizing their unique challenges while skipping unnecessary complexity.
Duration: 2 Weeks
AI Tools for Entrepreneurs
A “must have” for the 21st century, this module introduces various AI tools that can give African entrepreneurs an enormous advantage in sales, automation, research, operations, etc.
Duration: 2 Weeks
Core Soft Skills
A bold, fun, “uncomfortable”, but essential module that addresses often unspoken cultural differences in work ethic, expectations, communication, etc. between African and various cultures that can make or break a deal.
Duration: 1 Week
Getting Investment Ready
A deeply valuable look into what serious investors are looking for in start-ups, and how to prepare and position your business to attract and convince potential investors from both Christian and secular worlds.
Duration: 2 Weeks
Theology of Business
A theological look at the redemptive role of Christian businesses, how to align your business with sound doctrine, and major theological pitfalls that have kept Christian businesses from becoming what they could be.
Duration: 2 Weeks
AVODA's Kingdom Vision for Africa
With 680 million Christians and counting, Africa is rapidly becoming the “global center of Christianity”. However, Africa’s Christian businesses are not only under-served in customized business education and business funding, they are yet to be made fully aware of their historic opportunity to build the Kingdom of God in and through Africa.
AVODA’s vision is to equip Africa’s Christian businesses with the practical tools, necessary resources, and Kingdom-driven community to make revenue and impact for Christ, both locally and globally.
The AVICS Advantage
The AVICS (AVODA Interest & Credit Score) System provides our entrepreneurs with the incredibly unique advantage of being able to prove creditworthiness and trustworthiness to potential clients and investors through an algorithmic score that tracks punctuality, financial accountability, and cognitive intelligence.
It’s also AVODA’s one-stop shop that hosts all class content, assessments, payment portals, GPS-enabled attendance trackers, etc. These data sets allow AVODA to intelligently calculate a credit score for our entrepreneurs and even interest rates for any subsequent investments opportunities.
Follow us on Social Media
Subscribe to our social media channels to keep up to date about what’s happening at AVODA!
- Stay ahead and make use of our many fantastic events, free classes, and scholarships
- Get your daily dose of inspiration and joy from the various stories of business success arising out of our alumni
- Keep yourself updated on news in the East African faith-driven start-up and entrepreneurial community
Our Locations
* Please apply for all programs through our AVICS platform using the button above
Kampala, Uganda
5/6th floor, 16 Tufnell Drive, Kamwokya
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Plot No. 34/1 Ursino South, Kinondoni
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1000 Ayat, Keber Damena
Coming Soon
Alumni & Student Testimonials
Peace
Peace is a community psychologist, a mom, and like many of us — she doubted if business was really “her thing.” But she decided to give it a try… and something changed.
From the leadership classes that helped her see what was already inside her, to the MVP sessions that sparked ideas she didn’t know she had, to the 10K challenge that proved even 10,000 shillings can be the start of something real… Peace’s story is a reminder that sometimes, you don’t need all the answers, You just need a place that helps you start.
At AVODA, she found more than knowledge, she found community, confidence, and clarity.
Steven
Steven is an agriculture consultant who always knew hard work alone wasn’t enough — something was missing in how he approached his business. When he joined AVODA, that missing piece began to fall into place.
A powerful session on value chains with Jun Shiomitsu opened his eyes to where his real potential lay, and guidance from mentor Brian Lee helped him define the unique skill that sets him apart.
What stood out most wasn’t just the teaching, but the warmth, faith, and genuine care of the AVODA community. For Steven, AVODA became more than a program — it became a turning point.
Paula
Paula always dreamed of creating something significant. She wasn’t sure where to start, though, like many of us who are just starting out.
All this changed when she joined the AVODA Blue Program. For the first time, she was surrounded by people who believed in big ideas, weren’t afraid to chase them, had the tools and network with which to do so, and were not shy to share them with her.
One thing that really stuck with her was the day she learned how to the test her idea with real customers. That one small change helped her stop guessing and start growing, and now she’s building.
Robert
Robert, juggles a home-based business alongside another full time job.
He discovered AVODA through his church friend, who saw Robert’s potential and invited him to a session. That first marketing class hooked Robert, and he enrolled in the next AVODA Blue program. What stood out most for him was the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) concept, and that’s when he realized he didn’t need a big investment upfront. He could test small and improve as he goes.
Since then, he’s been applying that mindset to his business, and the results have been fantastic.