Designing the Next Phase of Kenya’s Jobs Fund
CEI has been commissioned by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to lead an evidence study that will shape the design of Phase II of the Kenya Catalytic Jobs Fund — one of Kenya’s flagship programmes for supporting small and medium enterprises. Phase I demonstrated that catalytic grants, combined with targeted technical support, can help businesses grow and create jobs. CEI’s study is now examining what worked, what did not, and how the programme can be redesigned to deliver greater impact at scale — focusing on which types of businesses to prioritise, what mix of financial and non-financial support works best, and how employment outcomes can be measured more rigorously.
The study is designed to provide FCDO with a clear evidence base for the next stage of the fund. Rather than simply repeating the first phase, CEI is looking closely at the lessons that can be drawn from implementation, business performance, and job creation outcomes. This includes assessing how catalytic funding helped enterprises overcome growth constraints, where technical assistance added the most value, and what kinds of support were most effective in helping businesses expand employment opportunities.
A key part of the assignment is understanding how future funding can be targeted more strategically. Small and medium enterprises face very different challenges depending on their sector, size, stage of growth, and access to finance. Some may need capital to purchase equipment or expand production, while others may benefit more from business development services, market access support, management training, or help improving productivity. CEI’s work is helping to identify which combinations of support are most likely to produce sustainable business growth and better employment outcomes.
Putting Inclusion at the Heart of Job Creation
Kenya’s SMEs account for around 80% of employment but operate at a fraction of the productivity of larger firms — a gap that holds back wages, job quality, and inclusive growth. CEI’s research combines a comprehensive mapping of the SME support ecosystem with direct interviews, business surveys, and lessons from international comparator programmes. Gender, youth, and disability inclusion are treated as central lenses throughout the work, not an afterthought. The findings will feed directly into FCDO’s decisions on the design of Phase II, helping to ensure the next round of the fund reaches the enterprises and workers that need it most.
This emphasis on inclusion is essential because job creation alone does not automatically lead to broad-based opportunity. The quality of jobs, who has access to them, and whether they provide meaningful pathways for advancement all matter. CEI’s study is therefore looking not only at how many jobs can be supported, but also at how the fund can help create better, more accessible, and more sustainable employment for young people, women, persons with disabilities, and other groups that are often underrepresented in formal economic opportunities.
The research also considers how the broader SME ecosystem can support stronger results. Enterprise growth depends on more than one grant or one intervention. Businesses often need a combination of finance, advisory support, skilled workers, reliable markets, and enabling policy conditions. By mapping the landscape of existing SME support in Kenya, CEI is helping identify where the Kenya Catalytic Jobs Fund can add the greatest value, avoid duplication, and complement other programmes already working to strengthen the private sector.
Measuring employment outcomes more rigorously is another important part of the study. For a programme focused on jobs, it is vital to understand not only whether businesses grow, but how that growth translates into employment, income, productivity, and inclusion. CEI’s evidence work will support a stronger approach to monitoring and learning, giving FCDO and its partners better tools to track results and adapt the programme over time.
Through this assignment, CEI is helping shape a more effective and inclusive next phase of the Kenya Catalytic Jobs Fund. The goal is to ensure that future support reaches enterprises with strong potential to grow, create quality jobs, and contribute to Kenya’s wider economic development. By grounding the design of Phase II in evidence, consultation, and practical lessons from implementation, CEI is supporting a programme that can deliver greater impact for businesses, workers, and communities across Kenya.
