Asante Africa Foundation

Prince’s Trust International have partnered with Asante Africa Foundation since 2019 to deliver the Enterprise Challenge programme, including the ‘Pop-Up’ business simulation game to young people in secondary schools across rural Kenya.

Asante Africa Foundation is a registered NGO, working across East Africa in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. As well as their Leadership and Entrepreneurship Incubator (LEI) Clubs, they run their Girls Advancement Programme, which supports girls with health, hygiene, finance, business and social skills so they can complete secondary and university education. They also deliver the Accelerated Learning in the Classroom Programme, which provides teacher training, low-cost digital resources, and learner centred materials to schools across East Africa.

Beginning as a pilot in 2019, the partnership has expanded to deliver our full Enterprise Challenge programme. Working with students in Asante Africa Foundation’s Leadership and Entrepreneurships Incubators (LEI) Clubs, the Enterprise Challenge programme provides an opportunity for young people to test their knowledge within a practical way, applying the theory they have gained in the business simulation game. Our partnership to date has helped us understand how we can improve our products and sessions plans to be more relevant and accessible to students in rural Kenya, whilst providing students with the opportunity to learn valuable enterprise skills to take into their LEI Clubs, and wider community.

In addition to learning about enterprise, students work in much smaller groups than in most classrooms, so they can develop their presentation and teamwork skills. They allows them to practice problem solving and strategic thinking, applying all of these skills to developing their business simulation and enterprise pitch.

As of the start of 2022, we have supported over 600 young people through the programme in Kenya. We have also expanded our partnership to support young people in Uganda and Tanzania, and in early 2022 we tested small-scale pilots within these contexts to explore the possibility of expansion.

Our long-term vision is to provide the opportunity for all young people who are part of Asante Africa Foundation’s LEI Club network to access the Enterprise Challenge programme as part of their learning.