Join Acumen and the Refugee Investment Network (RIN) for a day to explore how the private sector and innovative finance can help to promote social cohesion and self-reliance for forcibly displaced people (FDP) and their host communities.
The inaugural Refugee Lens Investing Summit will bring together a curated group of key stakeholders representing the emerging “refugee lens” ecosystem in East Africa, including FDP and host-community members, business leaders, investors, donors, entrepreneurs, and technical experts in Refugee Lens Investing. The event will provide actionable insights, showcase “refugee lens” companies, and facilitate connections that mobilize capital into this sector. We hope you will join us.
This event is invitation-only and attendance is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Plenary Session: The Refugee Opportunity Index—a tool to compare refugee economic inclusion policies
Economist Impact will introduce the Refugee Opportunity Index - a tool to comparably measure policies related to refugee economic inclusion - and present the results of the index for Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
Plenary Session: Deploying Refugee Lens Strategies Across the Capital Continuum
Select practitioners across the capital continuum share the blended finance instruments and facilities they are developing to tackle forced displacement, and best practices for the ecosystem to build from.
Moderated by Kate Montgomery, Head of Business Development, Government Partnerships, Acumen East Africa
Speakers: Anne Katrine Buch Vedstesen, Head of Impact, iGravity; Brian Ondeng, Senior Investment Associate, Acumen; Bruce Robertson, Founder & CEO, Gulu Agricultural Development Company; and Julienne Oyler, Founder & CEO, INKOMOKO
Company + Funder Chat Rooms
Choose one chat room session to join. Each chat room will feature a facilitated discussion for different company segments and the investors and funders interested to work with them.
Micro-enterprises: For grassroots entrepreneurs who are FDP, or who are serving FDP and hosting communities, with social enterprises that have small teams, are bootstrapping and/or are seeking pre-seed stage financing.
Early-Stage SMEs: For early-stage companies and funders pursuing seed or Series A financing.
Growth Stage SMEs & Corporates: For growth stage companies and funders pursuing Series B or later stages of financing.
Micro-enterprises: Facilitated by Joy Gikandi, Programme Lead, Acumen Academy East Africa and Vaida Odongo, Community Manager, Acumen Academy East Africa
Early-Stage SMEs: Facilitated by Kate Montgomery, Head of Business Development, Government Partnerships, Acumen East Africa and Reza Fazel, Principal, Open Capital Advisors
Growth Stage SMEs & Corporates: Facilitated by Danny Cutherell, Africa Director, RIN and Mariah Grubb, Senior Consultant, RENEW
Acumen's Accelerator for Ventures Serving Forcibly Displaced Populations: Showcase of Winners
Hear investment pitches from companies building scalable business models that are tackling displacement by advancing sustainable livelihoods for forcibly displaced populations in East Africa, and celebrate the winners of Acumen's Accelerator for Ventures Serving Forcibly Displaced Populations.
Facilitated by Joy Gikandi, Programme Lead, Acumen Academy East Africa
Speakers: Derrick Hosea Opio, CEO, OneLamp; Misia Daniel, Acting Operations Manager, Kakuma Ventures; Rebecca Aime, CEO, Patapia; Sandra Letio, Managing Director, Pelere Group Limited; and William Tinyefuza, Co-Founder & COO, Turaco Valley Foods
Acumen
AHL Ventures
CrossBoundary
DOB Equity
Global Affairs Canada
iGravity
IKEA Foundation
INKOMOKO
International Finance Corporation
JICA-Kenya
KawiSafi Ventures
Kiva
KOIS
Mastercard Foundation
Mercy Corps Ventures
Open Capital
Optimizer Foundation
Pearl Capital Partners
RENEW
Rockefeller Foundation
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Agilis Partners
Asili
Agro Supply
Capital Solutions Limited
Dashen Bank
Endiro LTD
Equator Commercial Farming & Processing Limited
Essymart Africa
FiberMart
Fine Spinners Uganda Limited
Gulu Agricultural Development
Company Limited
International Airtime Top Up
Jigjiga Export Slaughrterhouse plc
KadAfrica
Kakuma Ventures
KUDURA Power East Africa Limited
Livara / Nyowe Ventures Company Limited
Mara Agribusiness
OneLamp
Patapia
Pebuu Limited
Pelere Group Limited
Queens Delicious Foods Limited
Reparle
Safaricom
Sanergy
St. John's College of Science & Technology
The Portico Ltd
Tulip Addis Water Filter
Turaco Valley Foods
Wimrob Bees Company Limited
Xuperior Harvests Ltd
Alight
BFA Global
Cities Alliance
Cohere
Dignity Kwanza - Community Solutions
Danish Refugee Council
Economist Impact
Embassy of Netherlands
Ethiopia Refugee and Returnee Service (RRS)
Global Development Incubator
GSMA
Institute of Adult Education
International Labor Organization
International Rescue Committee
Kumwe Hub - Save the Children
Mercy Corps
Open Capital Advisors
Practical Action
Refugee Investment Network
Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat (ReDSS)
UNHCR Kenya
University of Virginia
Village Enterprise
Travel and accommodation bookings and payments are the responsibility of the attendee. For your convenience, we have reserved a block of rooms at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Nairobi Upper Hill. Please book directly through the hotel and reference the Acumen Refugee Lens Investing Summit.
For attendees representing a social enterprise that require financial assistance: Thanks to our partners, we can provide limited support for travel stipends and accommodation. Should you require assistance, you can request financial support through Acumen. Please email Lindsay Camacho at lcamacho@acumen.org with your requests.
For attendees requiring documents for visa applications, please email Lindsay Camacho at lcamacho@acumen.org.
Acumen is a leader in impact investing and has a long and successful track record in the Greater Horn of Africa. As Acumen’s programs have grown, it has consistently adapted to changing socio-economic conditions in the region, taking stock of past investments to tailor new, innovative, financial programs to Africa's evolving needs. Along these lines, Acumen has joined forces with the Refugee Investment Network (RIN), the first impact investing and blended-finance collaborative dedicated to creating durable solutions to global forced migration.
The Refugee Investment Network (RIN) is the first impact investing and blended-finance collaborative dedicated to creating durable solutions to global forced migration. RIN conducts research, educates and advises clients on how to successfully build and implement durable refugee-lens investing (RLI) strategies worldwide. With deep expertise and a growing set of partners in Africa, RIN delivers high-impact, scalable interventions that benefit forcibly displaced people (FDP) on the continent.
Since 2021, Acumen and RIN have been partnering with the IKEA Foundation, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Japan International Cooperation Agency to build the refugee investing ecosystem in the greater Horn of Africa region. Our joint project aims to explore how catalytic capital can advance climate resilience, refugee self-reliance, and social cohesion between those displaced and their hosting communities in East Africa.
