IFC and the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) have launched a competition for established local businesses in Turkana County in the Kakuma refugee-hosting area. The competition will allow the businesses to demonstrate how their businesses can have a sustainable development impact by creating opportunities and jobs.
The competition, which runs from September 14 to November 5, 2021, is being conducted by the Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund (KKCF), a joint initiative of IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and AECF. The competition is supported by the Turkana County Government and UNHCR. Winners of the Local Enterprise Development competition will receive funding and advisory support and are expected to be announced in early 2022.
Turkana West is home to approximately 454,000 people, which includes roughly 200,000 refugees from various parts of Africa.
“My government is keen to strengthen service delivery as well as create a favourable environment to conduct business. This competition affirms our continued commitment to exploring new opportunities and deploying innovative solutions to better address the financing needs of businesses and accelerate economic growth in Turkana,” said Turkana County Governor Josphat Nanok.
According to Jumoke Jagun-Dokunmu, IFC’s Regional Director for Eastern Africa, the competition demonstrates IFC’s commitment to local businesses in Kenya and efforts to help uplift host communities and refugees with private sector solutions.
“IFC has identified untapped economic potential in the Kakuma refugee-hosting area and the wider Turkana County region. We believe this potential can be realized with increased funding and solid advisory support,” said Jagun-Dokunmu.
AECF’s CEO Victoria Sabula said the Local Enterprise Development Window exclusively targets local small and medium enterprises owned and operated by the residents of Turkana County, including the host community and refugees.
“The Window has a special focus on expanding the horizon of opportunities for women and creating opportunities for young people. We envisage that businesses supported by KKCF will generate employment, improve services, and increase consumer choices for the people of Turkana County,” said Sabula.
The KKCF Local Enterprise Development Window is targeting established, local small and medium-sized enterprises operating in Kakuma and Kalobeyei areas, and businesses operating in other parts of Turkana County and looking to expand to Kakuma and Kalobeyei.
Winners will receive performance-based grants from between Ksh1.5 million and Ksh5 million, and advisory support focused on business development, financial management, marketing, and publicity. Eligible companies must show that their business proposals are sustainable and assure development impact.
This is the third competition launched under KKCF by IFC and AECF to support private sector development in and around Kakuma and Kalobeyei. Previous competitions (the Private Sector Window and the Social Enterprise Window), launched in late 2020, sought private businesses and social enterprises from anywhere in the world to establish or grow operations in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei. The first batch of winners of those competitions was announced earlier in September.
KKCF is supported by five development agencies: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development through KfW, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the European Union.
Read: >>> Millions in a hopeless place? Refugees turn into entrepreneurs in Kakuma
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