The objective of Zimbisa was to both improve economic policy debates and inform improved policy making. Kivu provided politically informed advice on policy influencing for a range of non-state organisations in Zimbabwe. The support was highly tailored to the challenging local political and policy context. Kivu’s partners included business associations and economic policy think tanks. To improve partners’ effectiveness Kivu provided highly tailored advice, support and mentoring, adopting a ‘learning through doing’ approach. Kivu combined a focus on short-term policy engagement with long-term capacity building of local partners.