The Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) of IFAD is pleased to announce the second round of National Calls for Proposals (Kenya, Uganda) 2021: supporting remittances in times of crisis in Africa.
Through its over US$60 million fund, the FFR works to reduce poverty and promote development by leveraging both international and domestic remittances and migrant capital in rural areas of developing countries.
In this context, the FFR intervenes in Africa through the Platform for Remittances, Investments and Migrants' Entrepreneurship in Africa (PRIME Africa), a programme co-financed by the European Union, with the aim to reduce inequality and enhance financial inclusion in Africa through the reduction of remittance costs and the maximization of their impact.
The Call for Proposals 2021 follows the previous ones published in December 2020, and focuses on Kenya and Uganda, to finance initiatives that will support at least one of the following objectives:
- Reduce international remittance transaction costs - Contribute to reducing international remittance transfer costs and increase access to and use of transparent and gender responsive low-cost services.
- Accelerate digitization of international remittances - Accelerate the use of digital products and the digital payments ecosystem to support international remittances.
- Leverage remittances to deepen financial inclusion - Use international remittances as a conduit for increasing financial inclusion and the resilience of remittance senders and recipients.
- Expand formal channels for international remittances - Promote greater access and use of formal international remittance transfers.
IFAD's FFR welcomes strategic partnerships linking for-profit entities with non-profit organizations, formal financial intermediaries, money transfer operators, microfinance institutions, financial cooperatives, postal networks, philanthropic organizations, investment funds, local and national governments, among others.
These National Calls for Proposals 2021 will finance grants from €150,000 up to €500,000.
The specific guidelines for the two countries, as well as the templates for the submission of the proposals will be made available shortly.
