Mapping the Refugee Journey Towards Employment and Entrepreneurship: Obstacles and Opportunities for Private Sector Engagement in Refugee Hosting Areas
FEATURED BLOG
Mapping the Refugee Journey Towards Employment and Entrepreneurship: Obstacles and Opportunities for Private Sector Engagement in Refugee Hosting Areas
2020-2021
There is increasing interest in promoting private sector investment in Kenya’s refugee hosting areas. Market assessments point to the potential of private sector engagement in not only boosting the local economy, but also in propelling refugee self-reliance. As donors, policy makers, and humanitarian actors turn their attention to whole-of-society approaches that view refugees as actively embedded within host communities and markets, this study examines the steps refugees must take to gain employment or become entrepreneurs in Kenya, as well as the challenges and opportunities for private sector firms to employ refugees or act as catalysts for entrepreneurship.
The study identifies issues to be addressed and concrete steps to be taken by private sector actors, donors, implementing partners and policymakers to foster refugee economic inclusion. The recommendations are based on an investigation of the process for refugees to find employment or entrepreneurship opportunities, in addition to the steps a private sector firm must take to employ refugees or support refugee entrepreneurship in Kenya.
The study was conducted by Botho Emerging Markets Group and the Research and Evidence Facility (REF) in 2020-2021 and is based on an extensive desk review and interviews with private sector actors, refugees, national and county government officials, and staff from UNHCR and implementing organizations working in Nairobi and in Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya.
Read the full brief here.