The Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity is looking for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector.
The fund will allow selected businesses to receive grants ranging from $500,000 to $2.5 million, which will be distributed over a period of three years.
The Agribusiness Challenge Fund, which is part of the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity, is for small and medium-sized agricultural businesses that can generate large-scale employment opportunities for youngsters, including those from marginalised communities, disabilities, and refugee backgrounds.
With an emphasis on young women in particular, SMEs in 20 Sub-Saharan African countries with innovative and profitable agribusinesses will have the chance to apply for funding to expand their operations through the Agribusiness Challenge Fund.
Fund support will be provided to selected SMEs in the form of grants, with maximum amounts of US$2.5 million and US$500,000.
The grants will be distributed over a three-year period, contingent upon the applicants’ business model, scalability, and stage of development, and in line with predetermined milestone targets.
According to Smita Sanghrajka, an engagement partner for the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity, “the agriculture sector presents great opportunities for innovative SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa to grow, with opportunities to create dignified and fulfilling work for young people, especially young women, young persons with disabilities, and refugee youth.”
Twenty Sub-Saharan African nations—Kenya, Benin, Burundi, Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia—are the focus of the Agribusiness Challenge Fund.
The application deadline is November 22.
Visit the website for further details or to apply.
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