Impact Hub’s Resilience Africa to launch new hubs, incubators

Impact Hub has announced the launch of its Resilience Africa initiative, which aims to launch hubs and two types of incubator in six countries – Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya and Sierra Leone.

Impact Hub has been on an expansion push in Africa of late, with Disrupt Africa reporting last month teams from seven countries were selected to take part in its Africa Seed Programme, a six-month incubator designed to support entrepreneurs in opening Impact Hubs across Africa.

The organisation, which has 54 hubs across the world with over 7,000 members, is now going a step further by partnering Dutch NGO Cordaid to launch Resilience Africa, which plans to open another six hubs and run two incubator programmes.

“Africa is a continent brimming with fertile ideas for sparking change – but these ideas cannot happen in isolation,” Impact Hub said.

“All entrepreneurs need resources – space, advice, time, networks, and funding – to help turn their ideas into reality. This is the core purpose of Impact Hub – to connect social entrepreneurs with the resources they need to start making changes from the ground up.”

Applications are being invited from those interested in being trained to run hubs in the specified locations, while Impact Hub will introduce four Impact Hub Fellowship Programmes and two Social Business Incubators (SBI) into the physical spaces.

The Impact Hub Fellowship Programme is a theme-based one-year incubation programme offering between 100 and 160 social entrepreneurs extensive support from the Impact Hub, and will be launched in the newly established Impact Hubs in Burundi, the DRC and Kenya.

Meanwhile, the Social Business Incubator will be spearheaded by Cordaid and Enviu in the new hubs in Ethiopia and Sierra Leone, focusing on helping social entrepreneurs develop their ideas into investor-ready ventures.

“These incubator programmes will enable entrepreneurs to realise their ideas for a sustainable world,” Impact Hub said.

The partners also plan to introduce two thought leadership events to the new hubs, the first an invitation-only event for key players in the sector, and the second an open event to evaluate the findings of Resilience Africa and plan for the future.

Interested parties located in any of the specified countries can apply to be part of Resilience Africa here, with applications closing on Monday, March 23.