Introducing Kilele Accelerator
Kilele Accelerator is an early stage social enterprise committed to providing sustainable livelihoods to African youth by catalysing environmentally beneficial industries with high employment capacity.
Our flagship plastic recycling program aims to tackle plastic pollution while generating employment opportunities for urban and rural youth aged 18 to 29 with an emphasis on Out-Of-School (OOSY), young women and people with disabilities.
The Opportunity
Africa has one of the youngest populations in the world
Rapidly increasing youth unemployment in the region
The pilot Mt. Kenya region has a youth population of 4 Million
Only 25.6% have a secondary school education and only 57% report any typeof work
The pilot region lacks established waste management infrastructure leading to massive landfills and build up of waste plastic.
Kenya produces about 500 tonnes of waste plastic with a negligible amount getting recycled
Our Approach
Unlocking Global Markets
Through establishing of a plastic recycling value chain that taps into the global market through the Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS)
Open Source Knowledge sharing
Resources from the plastic waste recycling global community supports new entrants to establish recycling activities and projects
Drawing from established approaches
Using evidence and learnings from other African NGOs in our networks would enable us to develop a highly impactful and scalable model
Year 1 Priorities
Our potential first pilot would be to deliver recycled plastic posts for farmers in the Mt. Kenya region as part of a partnership with local grassroots community based organisations.
Raise philanthropic funds
Raise funds through philanthropy grants to implement a number of pilots to validate the model and theory of change.
Impact 500+ Youth
Train, employ and increase income for 500+ youth through our pilot rounds in atleast 1 urban and 1 rural context.
Establish markets and raise revenue
Establish markets for a portfolio of recycled plastic products and generate revenue
Demographics of the Target Youth
More than 72 million youth in Africa are not in education, employment or training – the majority of them young women.
Age
Young women and men, 18 to 29 years old
Income
Earn below $2 a day prior to enrollment
Education
Primary, secondary and post-secondary dropouts
Location
Both urban and rural areas in East Africa
Our Model
Kilele Accelerator’s flagship program creates dignified jobs and provides training for youth through technical apprenticeships, micro enterprise incubation, and independent micro-enterprises within the plastic recycling value chain. The program offers a range of plastic products and aims to expand its offerings based on market demand.
Technical and Entrepreneurship Training
Deliver a comprehensive technical and business skills training program to prepare youth for jobs and businesses in the emergent plastics sector.
Plastic Recycling Workshops
Establish recycling workshops to recycle waste plastic into marketready products.
Apprenticeship
Select a subset of the best youth from each cohort for 1-year paid apprenticeships in workshops.
MicroEnterprise Incubation
Choose another subset of qualified youth for 1-year incubation to launch micro-enterprises
Independent Micro-Enterprise Support
Enable additional youth to start their independent microenterprises, and get access to our support and value chain
Plastic Product Sales
Produce a catalog of market-ready products.
Youth Benefits Program
We will find strategic partners to provide medical insurance, savings, and micro-loans to all trained youth
Market-Driven Product Expansion
Continuously assess and expand the product line based on market demand
Our Team
Co-founders Ngibuini ‘Gibbs’ Mwaura and Joseph (Joe) Gachira collectively have over 15 years hands-on experience in the Africa entrepreneurship and youth livelihoods space. The co-founders and management team bring together expertise in establishing profitable local businesses, scaling livelihoods programs, securing funding partnerships and collaborating with the public sector.
Ngibuini ‘Gibbs’ Mwaura
Co-founder
Joseph ‘Joe’ Gachira
Co-founder
Alignment with the SDGs
