Our Organization
The African Impact Initiative (AII) is committed to building the future of the African continent and diaspora community, by empowering our early visionaries to create sustainable solutions to our biggest challenges. Our vision is a reality where it’s never too early or difficult, for African innovators to bring their ideas to life and make a difference. Since formally starting in 2018, AII has raised over $5 million which has supported thousands of Africans in line with our mission.
The African Impact Challenge (AIC) is our flagship impact-entrepreneurship program that trains, invests in, and supports early African founders across the continent. Since launching in 2020, AIC has built the capacity of 1000+ early-stage African entrepreneurs and funded over 100 of them to build 79 startups. This has happened in Ghana (2020), Kenya (2021), Rwanda (2022), South Africa (2023) and Botswana (2024). In 2022, AIC launched a Pan-African Health Entrepreneurship Stream, which now runs annually alongside our Country Innovation stream above - with the support of Mastercard Foundation. Each year we bring AIC winners from across the continent, to build and learn at the heart of Toronto’s startup ecosystem (where we are headquartered) for 3 months with all expenses covered. Recognized by the United Nations SDSN as a Top 50 Youth Solution globally - our moonshot goal for AIC is to enable innovators in every African country, to build market-creating innovations (focused on increasing adoption, accessibility, and affordability) which solve their country’s biggest challenges in a scalable way.
OUR Program Manager OPPORTUNITY
We are seeking a Program Manager based in Africa to lead the growth, strategy, and operations of the African Impact Challenge (AIC). Our ideal candidate is a strategic leader with extensive experience and relationships in the African startup ecosystem, possessing valuable connections and insights that can enhance our work with early-stage entrepreneurs. This role demands a unique blend of program management and startup ecosystem expertise to ensure that our founders receive the guidance, mentorship, and resources they need to thrive.
The successful candidate will:
Have extensive experience and connections in the African startup ecosystem, including an understanding of incubator and accelerator dynamics.
Be adept at building partnerships and engaging with African startups, investors, and ecosystem stakeholders to support our portfolio companies.
Possess an entrepreneurial mindset and experience in managing and scaling impact-focused programs or funds.
If you’re passionate about driving impactful change across Africa’s entrepreneurial landscape, we would love to hear from you.
The successful candidate will also possess exceptional people skills, extensive experience engaging with African startups and investors directly, along with expertise in streamlining operations on complex multi-year projects. If you are a leader driven by purposeful passion, who would love to spend the next phase of your career creating meaningful impact for the next generation of African entrepreneurs, we would love to hear from you!
our program manager’s Responsibilities
Startup Sourcing and Due Diligence: Lead sourcing, recruitment, and due diligence for AIC, selecting and supporting startups that align with our mission.
Founder and Ecosystem Engagement: Act as a primary contact for founders, leveraging deep connections within the startup ecosystem to facilitate growth.
Operational and Strategic Leadership: Guide program staff with a servant-leadership approach, empowering teams to achieve operational excellence.
Stakeholder and Partnership Development: Build and sustain long-term partnerships, foster fundraising, and develop co-investor relationships.
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL): Develop and implement MEL frameworks and KPIs to measure program impact and track progress.
Public Representation: Serve as an ambassador for AIC, promoting the brand across the ecosystem and engaging with investors and stakeholders.
Minimum Qualifications:
5+ years of experience supporting African startups and leading programs within the startup ecosystem.
Established network of contacts within the African startup community and investor space.
Strong leadership skills with a track record of managing operationally complex programs.