The African Continent has the opportunity to leverage powerful forces, like the youth bulge and locally-created leapfrogging technologies, to create a more engaged and inclusive society that will have a positive ripple effect across the globe. At Umsizi Fund, we believe that transformational leadership and meaningful partnerships are the key ingredients to Africa's long-term economic and social growth. We are committed to supporting multi-stakeholder innovations that have the power to drive ecosystem level impact.

Fellowships

Youth leaders bring a fresh perspective to solving their community’s challenges. They have a unique lens on the world and its possibilities, and they bring that optimistic energy into their ventures.

However, they often lack the connections, experiences and financial histories to access the mentorship and capital they need to support their initiatives. Umsizi provides stipend support for Africans starting ventures on the continent, and connects them with partners, funders, mentors and employers.

Grantmaking

Our partners have the ambitious goal of changing the world around them for the better. They are building user-centered products and creating strong teams with the capacity to scale innovations across countries and markets.

Umsizi has the ability to invest where other funders may be limited by internal restrictions, and we trust our partners to decide where and how capital is deployed. Our unrestricted funds have been used to drive experiments, invest in managerial capacity and more.

Employability Network

Youth employment is one of the greatest challenges and opportunities facing the African continent today. The Peer Learning Network, formed in 2016, helps members develop stronger relationships across the youth employment ecosystem and identify possible opportunities for collaboration and peer support leading to increased impact. Umsizi has supported learning experiences for mid-level managers, assessments to identify and match trainees, and pilots on behavioral nudges to increase training engagement and completion.

Impact Investment

Umsizi is committed to investing 100% of our foundation assets to investments that align with our impact goals. The fund managers and small businesses we invest in support life-changing impact while also delivering positive financial returns.

We partner with like-minded investors to provide capital and advice to start-up businesses primarily in agriculture, health and education to employment sectors.