The MasterCard Foundation, a Canada based independent global organisation has announced a $50 million challenge fund to help improve the lives of smallholder farmers in Ghana and other African countries by enabling businesses to expand financial services in rural areas of Ghana and across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Senior Communications Manager for Financial Inclusion at The MasterCard Foundation, Roger Morier who announced the fund at a forum in Accra, explained that the goal of the fund was to transform lives by increasing access to financial services for at least one million financially excluded people living in rural and agric areas of Africa.
It aims to do so by supporting financial service providers or institutions with a financial solution to develop new or expand existing financial products, services or delivery platforms that will increase financial access for people living in poverty, rural or agric areas, he added.
“Over the last decade, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have enjoyed substantial economic growth but much of this growth has not benefited the rural poor, especially smallholder farmers who are mostly women and who depend on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods”, the President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation, Reeta Roy said.
“This new fund will stimulate private sector organisations to provide affordable and accessible savings, credit and insurance products. These services are essential to enable African farmers to increase productivity and incomes and, ultimately, grow rural economies”.
The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity, the senior officials explained would support ideas that have the potential to grow to scale and also have a deep social impact on the lives of rural people living in poverty throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The fund will be managed by KPMG International Advisory Service.
A Senior Partner, KPMG Ghana, Amanor Dodoo, said: “We all have stake in the socio-economic development of our country. We should in our small way contribute to the transformation of the country” hence the consultancy firm’s decision to partner with the MasterCard Foundation to roll out the programme.
Initial applications for innovation proposals will be accepted until March 20, 2015 for projects in 24 African countries including Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Togo.
African Eye News.com
