The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) is calling for the submission of proposals by African-owned and managed enterprises in its Accelerate Africa Entrepreneurship Challenge.
With $50,000 to $250,000 up for grabs, participants stand a chance to enjoy intensive local technical assistance and governance support from the USADF upon winning the competition.
About the USADF Accelerate Africa Entrepreneurship Challenge:
The challenge is an initiative of USADF’s Youth and Women Entrepreneurship Portfolio which is designed to invest in Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) as well as to address Africa’s youth bulge, economically empower youths and women and impact job creation across Africa.
What is the USADF?
The United States Development Foundation (USADF) is an independent United States government agency that provides grants of up to $250,000 for operational assistance, enterprise expansion and market linkage to early-stage agriculture, energy, and youth-led enterprises that benefit underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Over 40 years (1984-2021), the foundation has directly impacted over 2 million people through awarded grants worth over $265 million.
Eligibility Requirements:
To apply for the challenge, applicants must be:
• Citizens of Sub-Saharan African Countries (including all shareholders, members of the board and senior management team of the enterprise).
• 100% African-owned and managed for-profit companies owned by private individuals, with no affiliation whatsoever to the government.
• Legally registered in Nigeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and/or Zambia and in good standing with the local governments in which they operate.
• Developers of their technology and/or may be acquiring and implementing technology developed elsewhere.
• Passports or other government-issued IDs showing citizenship of all owners and senior managers must be submitted with the applications.
• Women-owned or managed businesses are a plus.
Proposals must:
• Have a budget of no more than $250,000. In the events where applicants propose budgets greater than $250,000, they are advised to bring leveraged resources from other sources to meet the total financing requirements.
• Document how they will use the USADF grant capital to carry out their concept.
• Document adequate expertise in the field they are proposing or document how they will acquire the necessary expertise.
• Benefit underserved populations or low-income rural or urban populations.
• Improve women’s access to funding and enhance youth productivity.
• Further develop, scale up or extend the use of proven solutions/technologies for social impact in Africa.
• Demonstrate financial sustainability or the potential for financial sustainability.
• All required documentation and proposals are to be submitted on or before the 30th of September, 2022 to the email address allocated to the various selected countries.
For applicants in Nigeria, the allocated email address is: EntrepreneurshipNGA@usadf.gov.
For more enquiries, send an email to the organizers at Entrepreneurship@usadf.gov.
