The Kenya Catalytic Jobs Fund is a £5m, 4-year programme that aims to test and support innovations that have the potential to stimulate job creation. The programme takes the form of a challenge fund, with calls for proposals to select and support the best innovations, through a mix of grants and tailored technical assistance. It focuses on agriculture, manufacturing, and informal sectors, and seeks to capitalise on the opportunity presented by the youthful Kenyan population to accelerate social and economic development.  The overall programme outcome is to create new quality jobs for young and vulnerable people through improved enterprise performance in the selected sectors.

The Fund is well-aligned with the Government of Kenya’s response to the youth unemployment challenge as set out in its plans including the Vision 2030, Medium Term Plans, the Industrial Transformation Plan and the current regime’s Big 4 agenda. It is also closely aligned with the UK Government’s attempts to support Kenya in addressing this challenge through its new approach to Africa, particularly around the key pillars of prosperity and demography which have a strong focus on jobs and economic development. It links to the broader UK investment portfolio, with the ambition that companies will graduate from the programme’s grant support into next stage financing from Development Finance Institutions or private investors. The approach to implementation is catalytic, with a strong emphasis on generating knowledge and data on ways of addressing barriers to job creation and attracting investments into proven solutions.