Founded by Okendo Lewis Gayle, the Alliance is a network of highly educated young African entrepreneurs, using their talents to build high impact social and business ventures across the continent of Africa. Some of these efforts have been recognized by the Economist, Vanity Fair, and even the Queen of England! Notable alumni include Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Co-Founder of Flutterwave and Andela; Ugwem Eneyo, founder of the energy company Solstice; and Obinna Ukwuani, founder of the Maker’s Academy.

Each year in April, atop Mount Washington, the Harambe Bretton Woods Symposium takes place, which serves as the entry point for the newest class of Harambe’s young African leaders to enter the Alliance. However, coming up on their 10th year, Mr. Gayle was keen to create a memorable celebration of past accomplishments and unveil plans for future success. Alumni of the Alliance were invited to join, as well as past partners who helped support the vision of Harambe, alumni of previous classes, and new founding partners.

As Harambe’s second founding partner (the first being Cisco Foundation) the IDP Foundation was thrilled to attend the symposium and sign the agreement amongst all those in attendance, signifying how far they have come, as well as where they are going. The grant to the Alliance will support three areas in its first year:

• The creation of a 5-day young entrepreneur’s institute, which will expose junior and senior high school students to concepts of entrepreneurship, and engage them in the form of play via the ideation of their ventures. The institute will be taught by successful Alliance alumni, giving students the opportunity to connect and learn from entrepreneurs who have grown up in the same way as they have. It will be held in Ghana for its inaugural year.
• The grant will also support the creation of the IDP Scaling Program, which will support the scaling efforts of three Harambeans. Applicants will utilize the IDP funding as a research grant to develop scaling plans for their already existing ventures. Once complete, they will submit them to a panel for review. Those with the highest rated plans will be invited to meet with potential investors at a small intimate gathering.
• The IDP Changemaker Fellowship - The IDP Changemaker Fellowship will support ideas that have the potential to create systemic change on a national level within the education sector. The fellowship serves as a 1-year incubation opportunity for Harambeans in education or moving to the education space; $20,000 seed capital (e.g. for hiring full-time staff or financing a pilot); Harambe and IDP assist the fellow in building a skilled board that renders regular content support to help progress the venture; Harambe and IDP will help create an ecosystem around the fellow to finds collaborators for the project.
  • The fellowship has three phases
    • Seed stage
    • Preparation for scaling
    • Scaling the idea nationally

To apply for the fellowship, visit: www.healliance.org/idp-fellowship - Deadline: July 15, 2017 (23:59 pm EST)

We are excited about the potential impact our grant will make on helping to build the entrepreneurship ecosystem in West Africa, and supporting members of the Alliance committed to sustainable ventures creating economic vitality and job creation across Africa.

Download the recap of the first decade of Harambe and watch the video to learn more about Harambe below!