MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity Awards $4.4m for Innovative Financial Services in Burundi, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, Zambia

The Canada-based Mastercard Foundation recently announced the following organizations will share USD 4.4 million from the final competition phase of its Fund for Rural Prosperity (FRP): Promotion du Sesame du Mali (PROSEMA), Lima Kwanza Limited of Tanzania, Savonor of Burundi, Sprint Money Limited of Zambia and Syecomp Ghana Limited. The goal of the fund is to support “innovative and scalable financial products and services that improve the lives of poor people living in rural areas of Africa.” PROSEMA received the largest grant, in the amount of USD 1.66 million, to support 37,000 farmers with training and loans for inputs such as seed and fertilizer. Lima Kwanza will introduce avocado oil plants to Tanzania and provide mobile financial services to farmers of the plants. Savonor will support sunflower and oil palm farmers with mobile technology, support in creating cooperatives and input loans that can be repaid at harvest. Sprint will connect 45,000 farming households with government-backed input loans and a milling company as well as cashless payment services. Lastly, Syecomp is receiving the smallest grant, in the amount of USD 330,000, to provide farmers with advisory services and input loans based on credit scoring using satellite data and other alternative data sources.

FRP also disbursed a total of USD 12 million to 12 organizations in Africa during 2018. Altogether, it has funded 38 programs in 15 countries. Lindsay Wallace, Director of Strategy and Learning at the Mastercard Foundation, said “This latest addition to the FRP 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.”

The mission of the Mastercard Foundation is to support young Africans in moving out of poverty via improved “access to education, financial services, and skills training.” For 2017, the organization reported expenditures of USD 304 million and total assets of USD 14 billion.

Sources and Additional Resources

Mastercard Foundation press release
https://mastercardfdn.org/five-more-african-firms-to-receive-support-from-mastercard-foundation-fund-for-rural-prosperity/

Mastercard Foundation home page
https://mastercardfdn.org/

Mastercard Foundation 2017 financial statement
https://mastercardfdn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Mastercard-Foundation-Audited-FS-as-of-December-31-2017.pdf

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