AEC has worked with more than 24,000 entrepreneurs in East Africa, inclusive of both refugee micro-businesses and larger SMEs who are exporting globally.  Below are some recent media coverage articles that highlight AEC’s work or the inspiring entrepreneurs we serve.

A group of ten budding entrepreneurs have aced for interest-free loans in an intensified business pitch under the 5th Bank of Kigali (BK) Urumuri Initiative. The pitch competition took place on Friday, at the Kigali Convention Center in front of a panel of five judges...

That business came under threat when the pandemic hit earlier this year. But Mr Mboniga was one of many refugees to be helped by the African Entrepreneur Collective (aec), a charity which started to disburse grants from a special covid-19 relief fund in June. Read...

When Innocent Havyarimana started his soap-making business in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp in early 2015, he was trying to move on from the traumatic events that had made him flee his native Burundi a year earlier. Read...

Around the world today, the UNHCR estimates more than 82 million people have been forced to abruptly flee their homes, leaving everything and everyone behind due to conflict or disaster. The challenges faced by refugees do not end once they reach their new country of...

This week, as part of B Corp month, we are charged with telling a positive impact story from among our network. One of our favorites is from our partner, the African Entrepreneur Collective (AEC). This wonderful collection of business accelerators supports local...

“I was just hoping for something to allow me to put food on the table and push through life,” recalls Angelique Rusaku on why she opened a grocery store upon arriving in Rwanda’s Kigeme Refugee Camp eight years ago. Fleeing violence in neighboring Congo with $150 USD...