Today, Administrator Samantha Power announced an additional $50 million towards USAID's EDGE Fund to continue driving innovative public-private sector initiatives that tap the private sector's unique capabilities - their competitive edge - and address the most pressing global humanitarian and development challenges.
Recognizing that the needs faced by communities around the globe are simply too large for governments to tackle alone, USAID, working with Congress, will use this additional $50 million investment towards new partnerships which allows USAID to continue utilizing the unique capabilities and comparative advantages of the private sector. At their best, these partnerships demonstrate the overlap between commercial and development priorities, generating continued private sector investment even without additional support from donors like USAID.
As a flexible, non-earmarked fund, EDGE also lowers bureaucratic barriers and enables USAID to move at the speed of the private sector to rapidly surge support toward core business objectives. As USAID continues to utilize EDGE, the Agency is furthering the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to expanding private sector engagement for greater scale and sustainability in tackling global challenges.
This new investment builds on the initial $50 million investment into EDGE announced by Administrator Power in January, which has already leveraged $110 million from private sector partners - with the potential to unlock upwards of $600 million in investments over five years. Previous EDGE-supported partnerships are advancing climate change solutions and strengthening resilience, driving private sector innovation to counter transnational corruption, increasing access to digital payment services, bolstering supply chains reaching small agricultural producers, and increasing access to secure 5G technology and reducing the digital divide.
EDGE is part of USAID's Private Sector Engagement Modernize reform initiative to enhance how the Agency collaborates with the private sector. Prospective partners can submit expressions of interest on the EDGE Fund page.
