Applications have opened for the 2nd Cohort of the Africa Impact Academy for Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia with up to $50,000 in Grants, Access to World Class Business Mentorship, Resources, Pitching and Investor Access.
Our parent company Seedufy Multibusiness Limited is an alumni of the Africa Impact Academy comprising of 137 high impact Businesses that completed the full programme and graduated in early 2026 at a ceremony held at USIU-Africa.
MoFund Africa’s Africa Impact Academy (AIA) is a free, 10-month capacity-building programme designed for African-founded social enterprises and non-profits in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia. It equips founders and their teams with the skills, systems, networks, and relationships needed to strengthen their organisations, measure impact more effectively, and become ready for catalytic funding.
The Academy functions as both a practical training platform and a rigorous due-diligence engine that helps community-embedded changemakers become more investment-ready while giving philanthropists clearer visibility into the organisations they support.
Applications are now open, and for the first time the programme is welcoming founders from Zambia.
What Cohort 1 Achieved
Cohort 1 drew more than 1,600 applications. Roughly 435 organisations from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa were onboarded and trained. Of those, 137 completed the full programme and graduated in early 2026 at a ceremony held at USIU-Africa. Ten of the graduating enterprises received catalytic grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 totalling around $80,000 across the cohort. Graduates have since joined the AIA alumni network and continue to implement the systems and strategies they developed during the programme.
Sectors represented included agribusiness, health, clean technology and energy, education, and community development. Many participants were women-led organisations, and a significant share focused on practical, locally rooted solutions such as clean cooking, agricultural value chains, waste-to-value models, and community services.
What’s New in Cohort 2
Cohort 2 expands the geographic footprint. For the first time, founders based in Zambia can apply alongside those in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The Academy is admitting approximately 100 organisations working primarily in health, education, energy, or agriculture. Applications close on 5 November 2026.
The core offer remains consistent:
- Tailored institutional capacity building that identifies specific growth gaps and supports organisations to close them.
- Peer-to-peer learning and partnerships among founders solving similar challenges across countries.
- Structured exposure to a network of African philanthropists and funders interested in trust-based partnerships.
- Longer-term relationship building that can unlock follow-on support.
- Pathways into the Africa Bridgeworks Fund for catalytic grants once organisations demonstrate readiness.
- Use of MoFund’s SikaIQ platform for real-time impact and operational data collection.
The programme is free for selected participants and emphasises practical, implementable tools rather than abstract theory. Governance training, financial systems, impact measurement, and storytelling for funders have been particularly valued components in the first cohort.
Who Should Apply
Eligible organisations are typically:
- African-founded and locally based.
- Legally registered and operational for at least 12 months.
- Delivering a product or service that addresses a clear local problem with evidence of community demand or use.
- Working in (or adjacent to) health, education, energy/agriculture, or related impact areas.
- Open to strengthening internal systems so they can scale responsibly and report results transparently.
Both for-profit social enterprises and non-profits are welcome. The Academy prioritises community-embedded organisations that may be too small or early-stage for large institutional grants but have strong potential to grow with the right support.
Why This Matters
Many high-impact African organisations sit in a “missing middle.” They need grants in the $5,000–$50,000 range, yet most institutional funders prefer larger tickets because due-diligence costs are similar. At the same time, African philanthropy—family giving, faith-based giving, diaspora support, and growing local foundations has significant untapped potential.
The Africa Impact Academy bridges this gap by strengthening organisations, standardising impact data, and creating a trusted pipeline that makes smaller, trust-based grants more feasible and more effective.
Expanding into Zambia is a logical next step. Zambia’s impact investment and social enterprise ecosystem continues to develop, and bringing Zambian founders into a multi-country peer cohort creates new opportunities for cross-border learning, partnerships, and visibility.
How to Apply
Applications for Cohort 2 are open now and closes on 5 November 2026. The official application portal is available via MoFund Africa’s website with Link provided 👉 Here or directly at the SikaIQ application link listed on their site.
If you run a social enterprise or non-profit in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, or Zambia and are ready to strengthen your organisation for the next stage of growth, this is a strong opportunity.
Cohort 1 showed that a structured 10-month journey combining capacity building, peer support, and funder exposure can help community changemakers become more resilient and better positioned for capital.
Africa has the changemakers. The Africa Impact Academy exists to find them, strengthen them, and connect them to the resources they need to scale their impact. Cohort 2 is ready. The next chapter starts with an application.
Deadline for Application
Applications for Cohort 2 are open now and closes on 5th November 2026.
