NAIROBI, Kenya, April 11 – The Mastercard Foundation has invited small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to apply for its Sh325 million ($2.5 million) Agribusiness Challenge Fund.
The Agribusiness Challenge Fundwill provide SMEs with innovative and commercially viable agribusinesses with support to upscale their businesses in a bid to create sustainable employment opportunities for young people, with particular focus on young women.
Selected SMEs will receive support from the Fund, including grants ranging from $500,000 to $2.5 million, disbursed over a 3-year period based on the applicants’ development stage, scalability, and business model, in accordance with agreed periodic milestone targets.
The funding structure will be determined on a case-by-case basis after evaluating proposals and organizations.
Additional support for successful applicants will include tailored technical assistance in alignment with FRP objectives over the 3-year period.
“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,” said Smita Sanghrajka, Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity Engagement Partner.
The call for proposals is open until November 22, 2024, with periodic assessments every 12 weeks.
The program builds on the success of the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity and aims to support SMEs in scaling their businesses to generate employment for youth in the region.
“The Mastercard Foundation is collaborating with a network of partners to create job opportunities for young people across Sub-Saharan Africa, in line with our Young Africa Works strategy,” said Daniel Hailu, Executive Director of Pan-African Programs at the Mastercard Foundation.
“The Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity offers a fantastic opportunity for SMEs looking for support to expand and simultaneously generate employment for the youth.”
