To be considered a Social Enterprise your business should:

• Have a clear social or environmental agenda included in your governing documents;
• Re-invest a large portion of your profits back into the business for sustainability purposes;
• Generate most of your income through trading activities;
• Not an NGO or government institution; and
• Be transparent and accountable.

Applicants must meet eligibility criteria including:

• Be legally registered as an organisation (e.g. Companies Limited by Guarantee) or a company (e.g. Limited Liability Company) and physically established in Kenya at the time of grant award by AECF. International organisations are welcome to apply but will need to be legally registered and physically established at the time of funding award.
• Business model must be in line with definition of a social enterprise. i.e. an organisation or business which uses commercial strategies for the benefit of society or the environment while making a profit.
• Have been in operation for a minimum of two years, with the ability to produce two years of audited accounts (these could be from the parent company, if recently established as a branch/subsidiary in Kenya).

Each applicant will be evaluated and scored against the following criteria:

• Geographic focus areas of Kakuma and Kalobeyei and how the project intends to benefit either host or refugee communities, or both.
• Capacity of the project to deliver and sustain social impact, particularly on refugees and women and youth.
• Strength of the project’s commercial viability and sustainability.
• Demonstrated potential to attract further commercial funding, beyond the grant provided by KKCF, if needed.
• Demonstrated capacity of the applicant’s management team to implement the proposed business / project.
• Demonstrated understanding of the humanitarian development context, gender issues and culture of Kakuma refugee camp and host community.
• Adherence to the blended finance principle

Selection will prioritise business models that address gender-related constraints by supporting women’s economic advancement through the creation of new entrepreneurial and job opportunities, as well as improving their lives. 

Women and youth-owned/led businesses are highly encouraged to apply.

To apply for the grants, please click on the “Apply” button and register on our secure online application platform. You will be expected to complete an application form.

All applicants must submit their application through AECF’s online platform.

The application window closes at 11:59pm EAT on Monday 22 December 2020.

Additional guidelines for submitting:

1. Please complete all mandatory fields to complete the application process. Mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk (*).  
2. You can save your progress and return to the application any time by clicking the ‘Save Draft’ button at the bottom of the form. The form auto saves your progress, however, we recommend that you manually save your progress.  
3. Remember to click the ‘Submit’ button at the end of the form. AECF can only access your application after you have submitted it. We will send you a confirmation e-mail once you have submitted your application.