Our Programmes
The Sudan SME Catalyser programme is funded by KFW (German Development Bank) and implemented by the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (the AECF). The second phase of the Programme aims to support established enterprises with the potential to localise the production of goods and services procured by humanitarian organisations in Sudan.
Women ADAPT is a two-year program funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and implemented by AECF in Benin and Burkina Faso.
The programme aims to strengthen the climate resilience of women-led enterprises, cooperatives, microfinance institutions, and smallholder farmers operating in agricultural value chains.
The Investing in Women in the Blue Economy in Kenya (IIW-BEK) is a programme that aims to contribute to enhanced economic empowerment of women-owned enterprises, their suppliers, and producers along key supply chains where women are discriminated against in the blue economy in Kenya.
Investing in Women in Benin and Burkina Faso (IIW-B&BF) is a six-year gender-transformative and economic-inclusion programme funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) to improve women entrepreneurs’ participation and economic resilience in a greener economy.
The Southern Africa Poultry Initiative (SAPI) is a flagship programme designed to drive inclusive and sustainable growth in the region’s poultry sector. The programme is anchored within the Food Action Alliance (FAA) and led by AGRA. SAPI is supported by a coalition of partners, including AECF.
The Seed for Impact Programme (SIP) – Tanzania Window funded by the Government of Sweden seeks to address the challenges faced by smallholder farmers (SHFs) in accessing seeds of improved and high-yielding climate-resilient crop varieties.
Seed for Impact (SIP) is co-funded by AGRA and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA), the programme aims to break the cycle of low productivity and poverty among smallholder farmers by expanding access to quality seeds.
The Investing in Women in South Sudan (IIW-SS) is a gender equality and economic inclusion programme that responds to the continuing poverty, food insecurity, and climate vulnerability that these small-scale farmers.
The Investing in Women in Nigeria (IIW-Nigeria) programme seeks to transform the roles of women operating in various agricultural value chains in Kano State, Nigeria, to increase incomes, improve climate resilience and transform livelihoods.
The Agribusiness in Africa Window (AAW) consists of Round 1 that came to a close in 2020 and Round 2 came to a close in 2022.
The Tanzania Agribusiness Window (TZAW) was established to support agricultural businesses in Tanzania to support smallholder farmers to increase their productivity and income.
The first of AECF’s investment programmes running from 2011, the General Window invested nearly $30m in a wide range of companies across Africa.
AECF’s flagship agribusiness programme was developed from the success of the preceding General Window and launched in 2012.
The investment programme Research into Business was created as part of a broader UK aid intervention to support the transition of innovative ideas from research into successful commercial enterprises.
In order to bring the market systems approach to more frontier markets, AECF implemented a small investment window in South Sudan funded by the UK taxpayer.
In response to the start of the South Sudan Window, Sida funded the Post Conflict Window – a programme that sought to provide private sector solutions to countries emerging from longer term conflict. It provided $12.6m in grants to 19 companies in Somaliland, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the DRC, covering a wide range of value chains.