Global online short-term accommodation rental platform, Airbnb, has announced that The Wilderness Foundation Africa, Digify Africa, Wildlife ACT, Africa Ignite, A Rocha Kenya, and Breadline Africa will all receive grants from its 2023 Airbnb Community Fund.

The donations form part of Airbnb’s Africa Pledge, a US$500 000 commitment to support economic empowerment, digital access and sustainability across the continent through to 2025. 

Created in 2020, the Airbnb Community Fund will distribute US$100 million by the end of 2030 to strengthen communities around the world. 

The fund granted US$10 million to organisations supporting communities around the world in 2023, including more than 120 non-profits across 44 countries on six continents. Nearly US$8 million was directed in partnership with its Hosts, who selected the key themes and identified organisations in the communities they call home.

This year’s Community Fund grants support to both larger, national and regional organisations that tackle societal-level issues identified by its Host Advisory Board and hyperlocal, community-based organisations chosen by local Host Club members.

The Airbnb Host Advisory Board, a group of 23 Hosts appointed to represent the global Host community, as well as local Host Clubs, selected the six African organisations that received the grants.

Led by volunteers, Host Clubs are local communities of hosts who come together to connect with each other and with Airbnb. Host Club leaders worked with their members to identify, nominate and vote on organisations having deep impact in their local communities. 

Dr Andrew Muir, CEO of Wilderness Foundation Africa, said: “This generous contribution empowers our mission of fostering lasting impacts through innovative and agile conservation initiatives. Whether it is direct action anti-poaching, landscape wilderness management, changing the narrative of inequality in South Africa, or the development of innovative finance solutions, Wilderness Foundation Africa is committed to ensuring positive change and enduring conservation.” 

Gavin Weale, CEO of Digify Africa, said: “This kind of financial support will mean that we can extend and improve our reach and impact around specific key programmes, such as Digify Pro, where we are working hard to increase the number of youth we support in work around the African continent. It will also allow us to explore widening our reach to even more marginalised young people, including those who have been displaced by conflict.”