Tag: Grant

AfDB approves US$1.4m grant to improve food security in Zambia in the wake of Covid-19

Frank

ZAMBIA – The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a US$1.4 million grant from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program to reduce malnutrition among the Southern African nation’s most vulnerable households. The Mitigating Impacts of Covid-19 on Household Food Security Project will create about 150 permanent skilled or semi-skilled positions and 40 part-time unskilled jobs in crop, livestock and fisheries value chains. The project will supply inputs for crops, livestock and aquaculture enterprises to promote good agricultural practices and increase food production and a capacity…

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AfDB approves US$1m grant for local content and SME growth to boost job creation in Mozambique

Frank

MOZAMBIQUE – The African Development Bank Group (AfDB), has approved a US$1 million grant to boost local content and development of Small and Medium-Size Enterprise (SME) initiatives in the southern African nation of Mozambique. The grant, from the Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (YEI MDTF), will provide technical and institutional assistance to the Instituto para a Promoção das Pequenas e Médias Empresas, or IPEME,  for the direct support of start-ups and Small Medium Enterprises , with a particular focus on youth-led and women-owned  in business. The Mozambique YWEB…

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Solar startup Pawame secures US$2.45m in grant and equity funding for geographic expansion

Frank

KENYA – Pawame, a solar energy startup, has raised US$1.7 million in grant capital and an additional US$750,000 in equity funding to finance its geographic expansion. Founded in 2016 by Alexandre Allegue, Majd Chaaya and Nick Sparks, Pawame allows customers to access solar home systems via a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) subscription model, and also helps them to obtain micro-loans via their mobile phones. The startup offers a portfolio of innovative, high-quality solar home systems in remote areas of Kenya on a micro-financed basis, using mobile money repayment and the business model also uses…

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World Bank awards US$350m grant to Tanzania and Uganda for quality broadband internet services

Frank

EAST AFRICA – The World Bank has approved grants totalling US$350 million to the East African countries of Tanzania and Uganda to expand access to high-speed and affordable internet, improve efficiency of digitally enabled public service delivery, and strengthen digital inclusion. Tanzania will get US$150 million as part of its Digital Tanzania Project (DTP), one of three national projects for which the international financial institution has released a total of US$850 million. The money received for the DTP will be used to increase access to quality broadband internet services for government,…

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Afreximbank, NEXIM to support Niger-Benue river charting with US$750,000 grant

Frank

NIGERIA – As part of the Regional Sealink Project, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) have announced a US$750,000 grant to support the charting of the main channel of the Niger-Benue river in Nigeria. The Regional Sealink Project aims to bridge the gap in maritime transport infrastructure and improve trade connectivity in West Africa. The Regional Sealink Project is a trade facilitation initiative designed to address the critical logistics infrastructure gap towards facilitating and deepening inland and intra-coastal waterways operations. It was adopted by the Economic…

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USAID gives SolarWorks! US$320,000 grant to solarise 92 clinics in Mozambique

Frank

MOZAMBIQUE – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which leads the Power Africa initiative, is providing SolarWorks! Mozambique a US$320,000 grant to install solar photovoltaic systems in 92 health centres in the Mozambican province of Sofala. In all the clinics selected to benefit from this Power Africa grant, the solar energy provider will install 55.2 kWp of capacity. According to Power Africa, this electricity will be used for lighting, charging mobile phones, powering hoovers, gynaecological examination lights, microscopes, and computer equipment. SolarWorks! will also install battery storage systems…

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USTDA gives US$1m grant to fund large-scale battery storage feasibility studies in Mozambique and Senegal

Frank

MOZAMBIQUE – US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has allocated a grant of just under US$1 million to fund feasibility studies for large-scale battery storage projects in Mozambique and Senegal. The large-scale battery storage projects are co-located with wind power in Senegal, West Africa and Mozambique, in southeastern Africa. A grant of just under US1 million was made by USTDA lin 2020 for the Senegal Battery Storage for Grid Resiliency Project, paid to Lekela Energie Stockage, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) subsidiary set up and owned by renewable project developer Lekela Power.…

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Applications open for Jack Ma Foundation’s Africa’s Business Heroes competition 2021

Frank

AFRICA – Applications are now open for this year’s Africa’s Business Heroes competition, the Jack Ma Foundation’s flagship philanthropic programme in Africa which annually awards 10 outstanding finalists with a share of a US$1.5 million grant. In its third year, the Africa’s Business Heroes competition gives African entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their talent and grow their businesses. The central theme of this year’s competition, “It’s African Time”, is a call to action for all talented African entrepreneurs who are challenging stereotypes associated with “African time” through their businesses, to leverage the…

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Agri-tech startup Farmhut wins US$100,000 grant funding from Hult Prize

Frank

ZIMBABWE – Zimbabwean agri-tech startup Farmhut, has secured US$100,000 in grant funding after being selected as one of the winners of the annual Hult Prize competition. Farmhut is an AI-powered marketplace connecting farmers to markets that pay fair prices for  their produce and enables farmers to grow their business fast throughout the year, and ensures  consumers get fresh, local, and sustainably-grown food from small producers in their local area.  The company has been selected as one of 11 winners of this year’s Hult Prize, an annual, year-long competition that crowd-sources ideas from…

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AfDB gives US$1m grant for AI-based national customer management systems in Ghana, Rwanda and Zambia

Frank

AFRICA – The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a grant of US$1.024 million for artificial intelligence enabled systems to process customer complaints on behalf of the national banks of Ghana and Rwanda and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission of Zambia. The grant resources are from the special fund of the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), a financing vehicle to accelerate digital financial inclusion across Africa. The project will establish a complaints-handling system for the financial regulators, using multi-lingual chatbots and artificial intelligence…

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