Forty-one refugee and displaced entrepreneurs from 15 countries of origin across Africa and the Middle East have been selected for the fourth cohort of the Amahoro Fellowship programme, with women making up an impressive 63 per cent of the intake.
The Amahoro Coalition, which runs the only entrepreneurship fellowship designed specifically for refugee and displaced founders across Africa, announced the new cohort on World Refugee Day. The programme is redefining displacement by backing founders who are creating jobs, attracting investment, and building businesses across the continent.
Women represent 24 of the 41 fellows selected, reflecting the programme's commitment to supporting female entrepreneurs who are driving economic inclusion. The fellows, who now build businesses in 16 African countries, operate across 12 venture sectors including agriculture, technology, education, health, manufacturing, climate action, creative industries, and logistics.
"Cohort 4 represents a group of exceptional leaders who are not waiting for change but are creating it through generating jobs, building ventures, and solving some of Africa's most pressing challenges from within their communities," said Julia Oduol, Principal Strategy Custodian of the Amahoro Fellowship Programme.
The Fellowship is a 12-month programme that combines self-paced learning, live sessions, mentorship, peer learning, and direct engagement with investors and private-sector leaders. Beyond training, each Fellow can access funding of up to US$160,000, the highest ticket investment in the world for refugee-led enterprises. The capital is used to scale businesses, create jobs, and unlock new market opportunities.
Patricia Barandun, Head of Section Migration and Forced Displacement at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, which supports the programme, said: "We are proud to partner with Amahoro Coalition to welcome the fourth cohort of Amahoro Fellows, leaders with lived experience of displacement whose entrepreneurship and leadership are helping shape Africa's economy. This reflects our commitment to locally led solutions that create opportunities for displaced communities to thrive."
The impact of the programme to date has been significant. Across its first three cohorts, Amahoro has supported 88 refugee and displaced entrepreneurs operating in 15 African countries. Prior to joining the Fellowship, their businesses cumulatively employed 428 people. Today, those same ventures support more than 2,240 jobs, a more than threefold increase that underscores the untapped economic potential of displaced entrepreneurs.
Collectively, fellowship-supported businesses have secured over $2.4 million in funding from Amahoro Coalition, demonstrating that displaced entrepreneurs can build high-growth businesses when given access to capital, networks, and opportunity. That early investment has unlocked additional financing of more than $4.1 million, showing strong investor confidence in refugee-led enterprises.
The Fellowship is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Mastercard Foundation. Through a partnership with PSA BDP, a global leader in freight and logistics, fellows also gain mentorship and industry expertise from seasoned leaders.
The fourth cohort includes fellows from the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Rwanda, Sudan, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Ghana, Angola, the Central African Republic, Zambia, and Burundi, now building businesses in host countries including Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Rwanda, Zambia, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Malawi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, and Sudan.
For the Amahoro Coalition, the announcement marks another step forward in its mission to mobilise Africa's private sector to unlock economic opportunities for forcibly displaced people, positioning them as contributors to economic growth and development across the continent.