African Diaspora Marketplace III Factsheet

The program is a collaborative effort between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Western Union, Homestrings, Ltd., George Washington University CIBER, Deloitte, Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), and Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF). Participating organizations provide resources such as grants, technical assistance, and SME workshops and toolkits to support the growth and development of SMEs in Africa. The program focuses on supporting SMEs in 24 African countries, including Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote D'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The program aims to provide support to SMEs in various sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, and services. The program will provide grants of up to US$50,000 to selected awardees, which must be matched by the grantee. In addition to the grant, awardees will also receive technical assistance from Deloitte Consulting. The grant period is 12 months, with technical assistance and monitoring extended an additional 12 months, subject to a follow-on agreement. The program has a comprehensive timeline, with several key milestones. The first round of the program, which involves a call for concept proposals, will take place from December 12, 2014, to February 13, 2015. Applicants will be notified of proposals progressing to Round 2 on April 8, 2015. The second round involves the submission of business plans by selected applicants, which is due on May 7, 2015. Semi-finalists progressing to the final round will be announced on May 28, 2015, and the ADM final evaluation event and recipient announcement will take place on June 29, 2015. Throughout the program, SME Networking Receptions and/or Business Workshops will be held in seven US cities, including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and Atlanta. These events will provide opportunities for SMEs to network and learn from each other, as well as access resources and support from participating organizations. For more information about the program, interested parties can contact David J. Saunders at [email protected] or visit the program's website at www.diasporamarketplace.org.