Apply! MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity Competition 2017

The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity is a US$50 million challenge fund to extend financial services to people living in poverty.

The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity will be looking for innovation in all applications, be they for new ideas or ideas that are ready for scaling. When considering your ideas, you should address the following questions:
-What is the potential for the proposed idea to change access to financial services for smallholder farmers in Africa?
-What is innovative about your proposed idea? For example, is it new to the financial services sector, new to the country, new to the continent? Perhaps it is even a first in the world? Is there a significant process improvement that changes the way you deliver a service or product?
-To what extent does the proposed project reach financially underserved markets?

Deadline
30th November 2017

Eligible Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, DRC, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia

Programme
Grants, Contests

Eligibility
-The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity will only support ideas from institutions looking to deliver a financial service, product or process to smallholder farmers in an eligible African country (see list of countries above).
-Projects may be proposed by a single institution or by a partnership of two or more (which could include a non-governmental organization); however, the lead applicant must be a for-profit entity.
-Firms that apply should have an established and verifiable institutional track record. The Fund will only consider start-ups in exceptional circumstances where there is strong evidence that the new company has credible and experienced investors and management team.
-Firms that apply should have transparent ownership and governance structures.
Examples of institutions that are eligible include:
Banks;
-Non-bank financial institutions such as insurance or leasing companies;
-Agribusinesses that provide a financial service or that partner with a financial institution to deliver a financial service to their supply chain;
-Firms that use mobile or IT technology to support the delivery of financial services to rural poor people; and
-Firms that provide a non-financial service designed to facilitate increased access to financial services for financially excluded rural poor people. These firms may apply on their own as a lead applicant or may apply in partnership with a financial institution or agribusiness.
-Please note that this list is not exhaustive. We are looking for applications from institutions that have a financial service offering.

Value
Applications made should be for support of between US$250,000 and US$2,500,000.

Application
How to Apply:

APPLY NOW

Visit the Program Webpage for Details