The reductions of transfer costs of migrant remittances and the mobilizations of these resources to complement other sources of finance for the development of the African continent have for several years been a subject of increasing interest for the African Development Bank (AfDB). The Bank Group with its partners is announcing the 3rd call for proposals of the Migration and Development Fund (MDF) for 2014. Award amounts will range from €350,000 EUR to €500,000 EUR per project. This call for proposals aims to strengthen and support the development of new and innovative financial products and services which reduce the current high cost of money transfers by migrants, and diversify the supply of existing financial solutions to meet the expectations of both migrants and their families in the West of Africa. NGOs and other organizations in those countries are invited to submit their proposals online by the deadline of February 28th, 2013.
Online account register and log in are required and need 2-3 days to be approved to access the proposal form. The qualified countries are: 1) West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. 2) Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region – considered on a case by case basis: Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
The targets of the MDF are these topics:
- Providing support for the launching of innovative pilot transfer operations such as mobile telephones, electronic banking and payment cards;
- Providing financial or institutional support for: 1) pilot remittance transfer operations; 2) regrouping operators (telephony, banks, MFIs and local agents), and 3) increased use of the banking system (health, repatriation of remains, unemployment transfers, and real estate);
- Health cost sharing projects;
- Novel approaches to improve access (e.g. non-resident bank accounts);
- Non-bank financial products and services and collective investment schemes by migrant associations.
The requirements of the application are the following: 1) Applicants must be registered and incorporated in Africa. 2) A financial participation of 30% of the total budget is requested. 3) You may apply for financing for a project that encompasses more than one area or multiple countries of activities.
