Description
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Western Union have launched a second African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM II). ADM II encourages sustainable economic growth and employment by supporting U.S.-based African Diaspora and other entrepreneurs with demonstrated relevant connections to, or experience in, Africa with innovative and high-impact ideas for start-up and established businesses in Africa.
The new Marketplace will incorporate key learning from the first African Diaspora Marketplace, by focusing grants toward priority, high-impact sectors in Africa, including agribusiness, renewable energy, and information and communication technology (ICT). Western Union and USAID will invite small business investment funds and technical assistance mentors to participate.
SELECTION PROCESS: Africa Diaspora Marketplace (ADM II) implementation team will select approximately the top fifty from the pool as finalists. The finalists will be invited to Washington, D.C., where an “ADM II Marketplace” will be held in June 2012. The marketplace will allow them to showcase their business ideas/concept directly to the judges who will select the winners.
Results
The finalists will be reviewed by an international panel of twelve judges. The judges will be tasked with selecting the top twenty ventures that will be ranked numerically by the agreed criteria. Grants will be provided in the form of cash funding and/or technical assistance. The target for the cash portion of the matching grants is up to but not exceeding USD 50,000. Each winner will be given a separate grant for Technical Assistance that may be from USD 10,000 to USD 20,000.
