Small and medium enterprises in the agriculture value chain in Kenya and 19 other African countries stand a chance to benefit from a multimillion shillings fund unveiled by the MasterCard Foundation.
Through the MasterCard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity Agribusiness Challenge Fund, agribusiness SMEs in 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa will access funding to help them upscale and create sustainable employment opportunities for young people, especially young women.
Selected SMEs will receive support from the Fund, including grants ranging from Ksh 65 million ($500,000) to Ksh 325 million ($2,500,000) disbursed over a 3-year period, based on the applicants’ development stage, scalability and business model, in accordance with agreed periodic milestone targets.
“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 firm says funding structure will be determined on a case-by-case basis after evaluating proposals and organizations. Additional support to successful applicants will include tailored technical assistance in alignment with FRP objectives over the 3-year period.
MasterCard says agri-SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa lack enough financial support to scale and need capacity building that may lead to better business practices and investor readiness.
“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. 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,” added Daniel Hailu, Executive Director of Pan-African Programs at the MasterCard Foundation.
The selected countries include Kenya, Benin, Burundi, Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
