Prospects Partnership: A Collaborative Approach to Supporting Refugees and Host Communities
Overview: Development Solutions in Refugee Hosting Areas
The Prospects Partnership, funded by the Netherlands and implemented by a consortium of organizations, including UNHCR, UNICEF, ILO, World Bank, and IFC, was established in 2019 to address the growing refugee crisis by supporting long-term development and service delivery for refugees and host communities in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Sudan (Sudan's participation is currently on hold due to political instability).
IFC is focused on implementing projects that improving access to livelihoods and employment opportunities for both refugees and host communities. Through blended finance and advisory services, IFC aims to de-risk investment project and provide additionality for private sector with the aim of delivering projects with high development impact. IFC has agreements with the Netherlands for $105M to support blended finance ($52.5M) and advisory ($52.5M) projects. IFC received a total of $47M in Phase 1, and an additional $58M in Phase2.
Blended Finance
In 2021, the IFC, in partnership with the Netherlands government, launched a $17.5M blended finance investment facility under the Prospects Partnership. This facility supports projects aimed at creating scalable, market-driven solutions for refugees and host communities. With additional funding secured in April 2024, the initiative will receive $35M, IFC in Phase 2 continues to scaling these efforts. The blended finance facility focuses on de-risking investments, alleviating first-mover costs, and creating new markets for the private sector in areas where involvement has been nascent.
The IFC has a strong track record of using blended concessional finance to unlock private sector investment by offering the minimum level of concessionality needed to catalyze impactful projects. This approach follows the guidance of the DFI Enhanced Principles, ensuring the sustainability and scalability of solutions. Notable investment projects include the $20 million risk-sharing facility with Equity Bank in Kenya, aimed at boosting financial inclusion for individuals and small businesses in Kenya’s most underserved regions, including the Turkana and Garissa refugee hosting areas. Overall, the IFC has a total of $52.5M in blended finance resources.
Advisory and Upstream Support
The advisory services and upstream activities of IFC are critical in shaping the private sector intervention in refugee and host community projects. These activities, include market analysis, technical assistance, and firm-level capacity building, that can effectively support firms better understand and engage with refugee and vulnerable host community, as an untapped market . By fostering new private sector approaches, IFC creates an enabling environment for private sector to engage with refugees and host communities, which promotes private sector in forced displacement contexts and refugee’s economic and social integration with the host community.
Notable advisory services projects include the Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund in Kenya, which supports local economic development in the Kakuma-Kalobeyei area, Climate-Smart Share Farming in Ethiopia, which supports cooperative and agricultural development, StartMashreq initiative in Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq promotes entrepreneurship and employment through the creation of a pipeline of investment-ready startups, focusing on women, youth, and forcibly displaced persons, and the CIS project in Lebanon and Jordan strengthens CIS operations across these countries and increases opportunities for youth employability. The IFC has a total of $52.5M in advisory service resources.
