Deadline: 15 March 2015
The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity (FRP) is seeking proposals for the Innovation Competition. The competition aims to build a new financial product, service or process that will increase access to finance for rural poor people. Projects may be proposed by a single institution or by a partnership of two or more of them, however the proposal must be made by one company acting as the lead organization.
The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity aims to help people move out of poverty by improving access to financial products and services that:
- increase their incomes (for example, with agricultural input loans that improve crop yields);
- improve their resilience (for example, through access to insurance or savings); and
- lift their communities (for example, by creating jobs and stimulating the growth of stable, rural finance markets).
The innovation competition is open to project proposals where implementation will take place in 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, and Zambia.
Eligibility Criteria
- Projects may be proposed by a single institution or by a partnership of two or more of them. The proposal must be made by one company acting as the lead organization.
- Firms that apply should have transparent ownership and governance structures.
- Firms that apply should have an established and verifiable institutional track record.
- Eligible institutions include banks, non-bank financial institutions, agribusiness, IT-based firms, and non-financial service providers.
- Applications made to the Innovation Competition should be for support of between $250,000 and $1 million. For the scaling competition, applications should be for support of between $750,000 and $2.5 million.
- Proposed projects must demonstrate the potential to increase the provision of financial services to financially excluded poor people in rural areas of eligible countries.
How to Apply
Register online to participate in the competition.
For more information, visit Innovation Competition.
