Social Enterprise Window Competition Update

The Social Enterprises Window (SEW) is one of three components of the Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund (KKCF), an initiative which aims to support the private sector to unlock the economic potential of refugees and their hosts in Kenya’s Turkana County.

The Social Enterprise Window competition seeks to promote business models which increase access to water and sanitation, engage in recycling, or provide childcare services
for low-income families. The competition was launched on November 10, 2020 at a webinar that attracted over 200 participants. Social enterprises operating in the region were encouraged to apply for performance-based grants ranging between US$100,000 to US$750,000.

All proposed projects had to be commercially viable and sustainable and have the potential to raise incomes, provide goods and services, create jobs, and improve living standards for families living in these areas – both refugee and host communities.

The competition closed on December 22, 2020 and attracted 39 applications. From these, the AECF programme team then compiled a shortlist of 16 semi-finalists.

Over 30 percent of the semi-finalists are Kenya based and already operate in the Kakuma and Kalobeyei areas. More than 70% of the shortlisted companies are women and youth
owned. The average funding request among the shortlisted companies is US$485,000.

The shortlisted applicants will proceed to the due diligence stage, during which the programme team will conduct physical visits to the businesses to ascertain their capabilities. Ten finalists will be selected in the coming months.