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More than US$41.5 million committed overall as the Fund closes competitions.
The Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity (FRP) announced today that five companies will receive a total of US$4,438,551 in support of its agenda on financial inclusion in Africa. The five companies, with projects in Burundi, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, and Zambia, were selected from among 214 firms that submitted applications to the fourth and final phase of the Fund’s rolling competition.
In 2018, the Fund awarded US$11,814,064 to 12 companies in the first three phases of the rolling competition. This announcement completes the Fund’s portfolio aimed at supporting innovative and scalable financial products and services that improve the lives of low-income communities in rural areas of Africa. Since its first awards in 2016, the Fund has distributed more than US$41.5 million to companies across the continent in order to propel financial inclusion.
The overall portfolio now includes 38 projects spread across 15 countries in Africa (Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia).
Companies selected in this last phase of the rolling competition are:
“These new awardees expand and enrich the Fund’s portfolio through their innovative projects, which cut across varied sectors,” said Wambui Chege, Team Leader of the Fund for Rural Prosperity. “The Fund is excited by the potential impact of the projects in its portfolio and will now direct its focus to project implementation, monitoring & evaluation, and sharing emerging learnings from the portfolio with financial inclusion stakeholders. We look forward to driving financial access and meeting the needs of the rural poor across Africa.”
Lindsay Wallace, Director of Strategy and Learning at the Mastercard Foundation, said “This latest addition to the Fund for Rural Prosperity portfolio enables poor people in rural Africa to benefit from financial services, often for the first time. More than that, it strengthens the Fund as a place where others can learn about what works at scale in driving sustainable financial inclusion for those who need it most.”
An overview of the five projects selected can be found below. More information about the rolling competition projects is available on the website www.frp.org.
ABOUT KPMG
KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 154 countries and territories and have 197,263 people working in member firms around the world. KPMG’s International Development Advisory Services, Africa (“KPMG IDAS”), is an Africa-wide department hosted by the KPMG Kenya member firm and is a global Centre of Excellence for development work on the continent. We have adopted a pan-African approach to development, employing full-time development experts complemented by a network of specialized consultants across Africa. KPMG IDAS is currently implementing some of the largest, most exciting, and innovative development programmes in Africa for a variety of public and private sector clients. For more information, please visit: www.kpmg.com/das.
About the Mastercard Foundation
The Mastercard Foundation seeks a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper. The Foundation’s work is guided by its mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion for people living in poverty. One of the largest foundations in the world, it works almost exclusively in Africa. It was created in 2006 by Mastercard International and operates independently under the governance of its own Board of Directors. The Foundation is based in Toronto, Canada. For more information and to sign up for the Foundation’s newsletter, please visit www.mastercardfdn.org. Follow the Foundation at @MastercardFdn on Twitter.
