Are you a dynamic entrepreneur looking to make a meaningful impact? Apply for the IGNITE Challenge before 23 June 2024.
Are you a dynamic entrepreneur looking to make a meaningful impact? Apply for the IGNITE Challenge before 23 June 2024.
Impact Hub Kigali, in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP), invites applicants for the third edition of the IGNITE Challenge. This initiative focuses on empowering refugees and enhancing their livelihoods by fostering entrepreneurship and investment in ventures that improve food systems, combat hunger, and elevate food security, particularly for refugee populations.
Success will receive the following benefits:
- Up to $25,000 in grant funding
- 5-month tailored technical support with experts
- Networking opportunities and access to events
- Access to market and industry resources
- Exposure to potential investors and funding opportunities
The Challenges target innovative and impactful businesses operating in Rwanda, including startups, MSMEs, and cooperatives. Applicants should have commercially viable solutions aimed at improving the livelihoods of refugees. Eligible businesses must be registered in Rwanda and actively engaged in operations owned by refugees or significantly benefit them.
The evaluation process for the IGNITE Challenge Third Edition will be based on the following criteria:
- Level of innovation: Assessing how the solution innovatively improves the livelihoods of refugees.
- Impact on refugees: Gauging the positive effect on the lives or circumstances of refugees.
- Financial sustainability: Determining the business model’s ability to generate revenue and maintain long-term viability.
- Level of traction: Evaluating the current traction of the business, demonstrated impact, and user engagement within refugee communities.
- Scalability: Examining the potential for the solution to grow and serve more refugees or communities.
- Team: Assessing the team’s experience and commitment to scaling the solution.
For more information about the program and application details, visit IGNITE Challenge.
Call for Africa Food Security and Resilience Partnerships
Call for Africa Food Security and Resilience Partnerships
Through the Prosper Africa initiative, the USAID Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) program invites applicants for the Africa Food Security and Resilience Partnerships grant opportunity. ATI seeks partners to work with USAID to scale access to and availability of agricultural inputs, technologies, and food that directly respond to the food security and resilience impacts of ongoing price and availability shocks associated with the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
Interested applicants are required to submit a concept note that works towards one or multiple of the following comprehensive objectives:
- Increased food security
- Support to established businesses, farming associations, and sourcing partnerships that can rapidly scale access to crucial inputs such as seeds and fertilizers
- Partnerships with companies to scale production of food crops critical to food security and nutrition across multiple markets
- Export deals for critical inputs to food insecure regions
- Facilitate trade deals that deliver food from areas of surplus to those of scarcity
- Resilience of food systems
- Transaction identification, facilitation, and deal structuring related to Africa’s resilience and food security
- Development of new financing solutions addressing issues of Africa’s resilience and food security to accelerate access to key inputs or food products and scale production of essential value chains
- Expand farmers’ access to technologies that reduce reliance on rain-fed agriculture, reduce post-harvest loss, and reduce/replace the use of diesel/fuel
- Strengthening and optimization of supply chains, such as through the use of technology and data to quickly drive decision making and respond to new resilience shocks
Shortlisted applicants will be sent a request for an application. Successful applicants will be offered grants ranging from USD 500, 000 – USD 5,000,000.
Apply before 31 March 2023.
For more information on the programme and application details, visit: ANNUAL PROGRAM STATEMENT
