The Sahara Group Foundation has opened applications for the Sahara Impact Fund (SIF) 4.0, a program designed to support young African changemakers with funding, tools, and training to grow their social enterprises. The initiative focuses on empowering youth-driven innovations that tackle pressing social and environmental issues across the continent.
Now in its fourth edition, the Sahara Impact Fund will provide seed funding of up to $30,000 to selected fellows who successfully complete the program’s three-month fellowship. The fellowship follows carefully planned milestones that evaluate impact, scalability, and sustainability.
According to the foundation, “SIF was established to empower young African changemakers and social innovators with the strategic funding, critical skills, and entrepreneurial mindset required to build and scale sustainable, impact-driven enterprises.”
This year’s program offers additional benefits including go-to-market support, legal aid for intellectual property and patenting, brand management help, and business advisory services. Participants will also be considered for extra funding from a $200,000 pool after a rigorous screening by the Sahara Group Foundation Jury.
The objectives of SIF 4.0 include supporting innovative social entrepreneurs, promoting sustainable development, fostering youth-led innovation, and encouraging mentorship and peer learning. The program also aims to build strong community partnerships and accelerate growth through expert-led capacity building. In total, the support and resources are valued at over $100 million.
Sahara Group emphasized that the selection process would be based on five core criteria: relevance, innovation, impact, scalability, and profitability. These include the urgency of the problem being addressed, how original the solution is, how much change it can create, whether it can be applied in different regions, and if it is commercially viable.
Applications are open until 31 August 2025. Screening of submissions will take place from 1 to 13 September 2025, and successful applicants—called EXTRApreneurs—will be announced on 27 September 2025.
Interested applicants can apply by filling out the online form at https://saharagroupfoundation.org/sif-application-form/
The Sahara Impact Fund is continuing to build a pipeline of socially impactful and profitable businesses across Africa by equipping the next generation with skills, resources, and networks to thrive.