A new philanthropic investment vehicle, the Africa Jobs Fund (AJF), has officially launched with an ambitious goal of mobilising $100 million to address one of the continent’s most pressing challenges, the lack of high-quality jobs.
The fund will be led by Daniel Yu and housed under Renaissance Philanthropy, aims to back businesses capable of creating high-productivity jobs at scale across Sub-Saharan Africa. Its broader mission is to sustainably raise incomes and improve quality of life for workers across the region.
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AJF will focus on two proven pathways out of poverty, export manufacturing and international labour mobility.
The fund plans to invest in commercially viable, “pioneer” companies that can unlock large-scale job creation. Through its investments, AJF aims to generate more than $50 billion in income gains for African workers and more than double the lifetime earnings of at least 250,000 low-income individuals.
AJF is led by Yu, best known as the founder of Wasoko, which has raised over $145 million and serves more than 150,000 informal retailers. He also chairs Malengo, an organisation supporting East African youth in accessing career opportunities abroad.
He is joined by Ben Hyman as Operating Partner, alongside a high-profile advisory group that includes Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Samantha Power.
AJF operates under Renaissance Philanthropy, a nonprofit founded by Tom Kalil and Kumar Garg. In its first two years, the organisation has catalysed over $533 million across 22 programmes spanning sectors such as AI, climate, health, and education.
Speaking at the launch, Yu emphasised that poverty in Africa is fundamentally a jobs issue. “Africa has hundreds of millions of working-age people reliant on subsistence agriculture or informal work that pays a few dollars a day,” he said. “Those same people, in the right job at home or abroad, could earn significant multiples of their income.”
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