IMPACT STORY – The Social & Inclusive Business Camp (SIBC)
Discover the SIBC
Each year, this acceleration programme supports African impact-driven entrepreneurs in scaling up their organisations, measuring their social performance, and preparing for fundraising. Over 350 businesses have already benefited from the programme.
Between 2020 and 2025, ScaleChanger had the privilege of supporting five cohorts, including two cohorts made up entirely of women, working on their scale-up strategies. ScaleChanger also led the alumni mentoring programme.
ScaleChanger‘s contribution:
Throughout the programme, entrepreneurs receive support from a consortium of partners on key topics, including:
- Leadership
- Scaling up
- Fundraising preparation
- Measuring social and environmental impact
The ScaleChanger team supported all 350+ participants on the scale-up dimension through:
- Organisational maturity diagnostics using the “Scale Me Up” tool
- Introductory video capsules on scale-up strategies
- Online webinars covering different scale-up approaches and models
- One-to-one sessions with ScaleChanger experts
- In-person sessions during the bootcamp, including thematic workshops, participation in startup clinics, pitch coaching, and pitch deck reviews
In parallel, ScaleChanger coordinated the alumni mentoring programme across all five editions, recruiting and training both mentors and mentees, and supporting the mentor-mentee pairs throughout their journey.
“This programme is incredibly energising, it really challenges you to assess the relevance of your project and helps you understand the importance and potential of scaling up.”
Feedback from the 2024-25 cohort:
4,5/5 -Average score given by participants in 2024–25 after the scale-up webinar
“The session on scaling up, along with the one-on-one with the expert, helped me understand that there are multiple pathways and strategies for scale-up. I was able to apply what I learned directly to my business and gained clarity in my next steps. It was a valuable and enriching session.”
“Christian, my mentor, came into my journey at just the right moment. I was thinking about diversifying my activities but felt a bit scattered. His feedback gave me confidence and helped strengthen my vision. He’s fantastic!”
— Bijou Tshiunza, Mentee
“SIBC is a transformative experience that fosters knowledge-sharing and builds meaningful connections between committed entrepreneurs. It’s a powerful lever to increase the social and economic impact of projects across Africa — thanks to a structured and human approach to mentoring.”
— Yves Bitama, Mentor
More about the SIBC :
The Social & Inclusive Business Camp is a hybrid programme developed by the Campus of the French Development Agency (AFD), combining:
- 6 months of remote coaching (e-learning)
- 1 intensive week of in-person bootcamp to dive deeper into e-learning topics and meet other participants
- One-to-one expert consultations to address key challenges
- Tailored mentoring from an experienced programme alumnus/alumna
- Access to an active and ambitious alumni community
To go further:
Find out more about the Social & Inclusive Business Camp: https://www.socialbusinesscamp.com/
Date : 3 July 2025
