Inside Kakuma Refugee Camp, Where castings for Africa's Next Super Model took effect to find new faces for the 2026 Ansm event.

A model at the casting for Africa's Next Supe Model in Kakuma Refugee Camp

The latest Africa's Next Super Model (ANSM) casting in Kakuma pulled a turnout the community hadn't seen before close to a hundred hopefuls, an estimated sixty girls and forty boys, showing up to be seen.

Five years ago, that kind of turnout would have been unthinkable. Modeling wasn't something Kakuma families took seriously as a path for their kids. That's no longer the case. Parents are now actively sending their children to castings, and the shift traces back to one name attached to the effort of ISIS Models & Select Models Global.

Models at the casting for Africa's Next Supe Model in Kakuma Refugee Camp

"It's not just any other agency," Jayplus said, reflecting on the day. "Other agencies, people say they don't know them. But because it's tied to ISIS Models, people trust it."

Jayplus (middle man), alongside Ninja (the right-side man) and Niko (the left side man)

That trust didn't happen overnight. Jayplus has been a steady presence as a top scout in Kakuma for years before relocating with his family to Germany, long enough that the name is familiar across the camp and that familiarity is doing real work, turning what used to be a hard sell into a casting parents feel good about sending their kids to.

The turnout reflects it. Sixty girls, forty boys, roughly a hundred young people lining up on the day one of the stronger showings the initiative has had in the camp, and part of the broader push under Runways to Freedom to scout talent out of Kakuma and connect it to bigger stages, from ANSM to the runways ISIS Models talent has already reached. For Jayplus, it landed as something personal. "I'm happy to be trusted that way," they said.

The ANSM 2026 Grand Finale takes place November 21 at Broadwalk Mall, Nairobi.