5 Organizations That Offer Financial Grants To African Entrepreneurs Right Now

5 organizations that offer financial grants to African entrepreneurs right now. Here is a list of 5 credible and prominent organizations that give grants to entrepreneurs and startups:

Seedstars Africa

 Seedstars invests in over 65 countries around the world. Seedstars World is a Switzerland-based startup competition that takes place in emerging markets around the world. Seedstars runs about 65 local competitions set to identify the best in emerging markets.

Competitors are trained on how to best pitch, and the emerged winners are awarded.Through Seedstars World, its popular, highly competitive and exclusive startup competition for startups in emerging markets, the company can identify promising companies to support with capital and technical help.

African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF)

The ADWF is the first pan-African women’s grant maker in Africa. Since the start of its operations in 2001, AWDF has provided $17 million in grants to 800 women’s organizations in 42 African countries.The AWDF is an institutional capacity-building and programme development fund, which aims to help build a culture of learning and partnerships within the African women’s movement.

In addition to raising money and awarding grants, the AWDF will attempt to strengthen the organizational capacities of its grantees. The AWDF only awards grants to organizations, not individuals. It awards grants ranging from $8,000 up to $50,000.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a private foundation founded by billionaire Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda.The foundation was launched in 2000 and maintains three offices in Africa—in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa, the countries where it devotes the largest share of its resources and expertise.

The foundation also has a presence in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, Zambia, and Burkina Faso. In 2016, the foundation awarded a grant of $4.48 million to Sidai Africa, a social enterprise operating in the livestock sector in Kenya.In June 2017, the foundation awarded a $2.4 million grant to Sanergy, an organization that provides hygiene and sanitation solutions to people who live in urban slums.

Norfund

Norfund is an investment fund for developing regions of the world, like Africa, and it’s funded by the state budget of Norway. The fund has three priority sectors it invests in: clean energy, financial institutions, and food & agribusiness. It provides equity and loans as from $4 million, and usually takes a maximum of 35% ownership stake in the businesses it invests in.

The fund was founded in 1997 by the Norwegian government, and by the end of 2016 it had invested up to $1.95 billion in 770 companies in businesses located in developing countries around the world. Norfund has three local offices in Africa: in Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa.

Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Program

Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) is an annual programme of training, funding and mentoring, designed to empower the next generation of African entrepreneurs. Founded by Mr. Tony Elumelu, the successful Nigerian entrepreneur and philanthropist, the fund seeks to identify and support 1,000 entrepreneurs from across the continent each year over the next decade.

Each successful participant in the program gets an initial seed investment of $5,000 after a 12 –week mentoring program. Another $5,000, structured as equity or an affordable loan, is also given to participants who meet certain milestones. The TEEP Fund focuses on citizens and legal residents of all 54 African countries. Applications can be made by any for-profit business based in Africa in existence for less than three years, including new business ideas.