New fund to boost innovation and reduce rural poverty in South africa
The US$50 million (R395 million) fund will run as a competition open to for-profit private companies who wish to start business enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa.
However all business projects must operate within the fields of agriculture, agri-business or rural financial services.
Starting in mid-2008, two competitions will be launched per year for 6 years. Each competition round will see private companies compete for funding ranging from US$ 250 000 to US$ 1.5 million (R2m - R12m) for the most innovate proposals having the greatest impact on the largest number of rural people.
The initiative's key supporters include the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the African Development Bank, the UK Department for International Development and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Speaking to Engineering News, AECF CEO Hugh Scott said that the initiative will address the common 'disconnect' between rural farming areas and the modern economy.
"The challenge is to join the modern economy with the rural areas and provide new markets and opportunities that are beneficial to both companies and the people living in such areas," says Scott.
"By stimulating investment in financial and agricultural markets, the AECF will support policies to boost agricultural productivity, create new jobs and develop enterprise in rural areas," said AGRA Chairman and former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan. "[This will] help lift millions of African small-scale farmers out of poverty and hunger."
Initially the fund will only be open to proposals from 13 African countries [South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia]. Eligibility for all African countries will occur as the initiative develops.
For more information visit: www.aecfafrica.org
