Who we are
A philanthropic venture builder catalysing high-productivity jobs in Africa through export manufacturing and international labour mobility.
The Africa Jobs Fund is a philanthropic venture builder catalysing high-productivity jobs to end poverty in Africa. We create these jobs through export manufacturing and international labour mobility, the two most cost-effective mechanisms for raising incomes for Africans at scale.
We start and scale commercially viable organisations through two entry points. We source exceptional founders and incubate them to build new ventures against specific, pre-scoped opportunities. And we fund existing organisations to scale their operations or launch new ventures in adjacent geographies and sectors.
The Africa Jobs Fund is housed at Renaissance Philanthropy, a nonprofit organisation that designs and runs time-bound, thesis-driven philanthropic funds led by field experts.
This gives funders the governance, compliance, and audit discipline of a well-regarded philanthropic institution while letting the team operate at venture-builder speed.
Our values
Cost effective
We seek to maximise the positive impact we can create relative to the resources we deploy.
Truth seeking
We want to know what is true about the world regardless of whether that truth is inconvenient or difficult.
Tolerant of risk
We focus on projects with the highest expected value, not only on those for which we are certain of the outcome.
Mutually beneficial
We create value not only for the workers and companies themselves but also for the countries where they operate.
Execution focused
We believe that the quality of our operations and the speed at which we work are crucial to achieving our mission.
Rights respecting
We believe it is paramount that our organisations respect the rights of the workers they engage with at all times.
Team
Daniel Yu
Founding Partner
Founded Wasoko, Africa's largest B2B e-commerce company (serving 150,000+ businesses, 2,000 staff, $145M raised). Led Africa's largest tech merger. Board Chair of Malengo, a leading (East Africa → Germany) migration non-profit. Forbes 30 Under 30. Speaks 8 languages.
Ben Hyman
Operating Partner
Started Talent Safari, a leading recruitment agency for startups in Africa. Led product & growth at Leta.ai, a logistics-tech startup serving manufacturers across Africa ($7.5M raised, Google Ventures-backed). Advisor to Health Progress Hub. Studied at Oxford & Harvard.
Anteneh Tesfaye
Venture Builder
Formerly Chief Innovation Officer and founding team member at Komari Beverages, a $27m greenfield beverage manufacturing company in Ethiopia. Previously an investor at Ethiopian Investment Holdings and in operations at One Acre Fund.
Ishani Patel
Fellowship Lead
Founder of an up-cycled fruit snack brand with a co-manufacturer in Kenya. Previously an analyst at BlackRock and a product manager at a Silicon Valley e-commerce startup (acquired by Shopify).
Abubakar Abdulfatah
AI Automation Specialist
Completing an Engineering degree at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaduna, and working in research at the University of Lagos' AI & Robotics lab.
Iris Braun
Impact & Cost-Effectiveness Lead
Co-founder of share, Germany's largest social consumer brand (275M+ donations of meals, water and hygiene products). Previously ran RCTs in India with LEAD and worked at BCG. Harvard MPA-ID.
Natasha Corbin
Venture-Builder
Led talent and recruitment at 5 Unicorn companies, including Moove and Talabat (the leading food-delivery company in the GCC). 500Global startup mentor and angel investor. Founder of Start MEA consultancy.
Jennifer White
Head of Mobility Finance & Venture Builder
Founded Student Finance Africa. Previously VP Global Partnerships at MPOWER Financing, an international student lending fintech ($150M loan book), and before that at IFC, Deloitte and Citi. Board member of Hali Access Network.
Entrepreneurs in Residence
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence explore a new sector and unearth opportunities on behalf of Africa Jobs Fund, with the medium-term view that they will start their own company to pursue one of these opportunities.
Renate Winkler
Germany Labour Mobility
Formerly Founder of Guardian Carers, a leading UK care-staffing business, acquired by Homecare in 2025.
Alex Mina
Italy Labour Mobility
Formerly Co-Founder of Profiter, a leading healthcare supply-chain business in Italy, acquired in 2025.
Tereza Matos
Portugal & Brazil Labour Mobility
Previously Country Lead for Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB) in Portugal and a project officer at IOM.
Advisory Council
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji
Advisor
Founded two African unicorns: Flutterwave (pan-African payments) and Andela (global tech talent network). General Partner, Future Africa.
Samantha Power
Advisor
Former Head of USAID, US Ambassador to the United Nations, and US Special Envoy for Refugees. Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
Frequently asked questions
Interested in partnering with us?
We would love to hear from prospective funders, founders, and operators.
hello@africajobsfund.com