The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US African Development Foundation (USADF) with support from Citi Foundation (CF) has made plans to award a total of $400,000 in grant funding  to 42 young African social entrepreneurs who are developing businesses to drive social and community change in 22 Sub-Saharan African countries.

The awardees will be 2019 Mandela Washington Fellows under the US Government‘s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). USAID, USADF, and CF will provide the young entrepreneurs with the tools they need to invest in their own communities.

The goal of the public-private partnership is to increase the commercial know-how and access to seed capital of Africa‘s next generation of business leaders and social entrepreneurs. The investments will allow the young businesspeople to create jobs, train other youths, improve their communities, and create or expand markets by providing goods and services.

Each winner will receive at least $10,000 in seed capital to support the growth of his or her company in any sector, from agribusiness, health care, or education.

Since 2014, USADF has awarded over $5 million to more than 250 young leaders in over 30 countries. USADF‘s goal is to catalyse young African ingenuity through entrepreneurship and support entrepreneurs to expand their social enterprises.

Source: USAID Gov

Photo source: DIVatUSAID