What Kakuma Refugee Camp can teach us about Private Sector Development in Refugee-Hosting areas
The Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund (KKCF) Learning & Strategy Conference will bring together private sector leaders, government, development partners, researchers, practitioners and KKCF-supported businesses to reflect on what six years of private sector development in a refugee-hosting area can teach us.
The conference will examine what KKCF’s experience tells us about investing and doing business in Kakuma-Kalobeyei refugee hosting area of Kenya’s Turkana County, the impact of private sector development on jobs, services and local markets, and what is needed to sustain progress beyond the life of the program.
It will also provide a space to consider the broader lessons for private sector engagement in refugee-hosting, fragile and displacement-affected settings.
The conference marks the close of the KKCF program, but it also looks ahead. Bringing together evidence from the program with the perspectives of businesses, government, development partners, and practitioners will help translate KKCF’s experience into practical learning for future investment, policy and program design.
What the Conference Will Explore
Drawing on KKCF’s experience, businesses and emerging evidence, discussions will explore:
- What it takes for businesses to invest and grow in refugee-hosting markets, including demand, infrastructure, access to finance, regulation, market information and partnerships.
- What private sector development can deliver, including jobs, wider economic activity and improved access to goods and services, and how these results should be understood and measured.
- How gains can be sustained beyond catalytic funding, including commercial viability, access to finance, market diversification, local supply chains and the durability of jobs.
- The wider conditions businesses need to succeed, including infrastructure, institutions, public investment, regulation and coordination between government, business and development partners.
- What future programs can learn from this experience, including lessons on business selection, funding structures, technical assistance, implementation flexibility, local partnerships, monitoring and exit planning.
Speaker and agenda information will be updated closer to the event.
The Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund (KKCF) was the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s first refugee- and host-community-focused program in sub-Saharan Africa. It supported private investment with the goal of unlocking the economic potential of refugees and host communities in the Kakuma-Kalobeyei refugee-hosting area in Kenya’s Turkana County.
The six-year initiative was implemented in partnership with the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), UNHCR, and the Turkana County Government.
KKCF was generously supported by five development partners: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands; the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development through KfW; the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); and the European Union. For more information, visit www.kkcfke.org
About IFC
IFC – a member of the World Bank Group – is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2025, IFC committed a record $71.7 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging private sector solutions and mobilizing private capital to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
Space is limited. Participants are requested to confirm their attendance by 31st October 2026.