The Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity is the second phase of a program from the Mastercard Foundation. The first phase was the Fund for Rural Prosperity, an eight-year program established in 2014. That Fund supported 38 participants from 15 countries in Africa to innovate and scale up financial products and services targeting rural populations with a large focus on smallholder farmers. One major highlight is the Fund enabled over 5.3 million people to have better access to financial products and services, exceeding an initial target of 1 million.

As a result of this success and learnings gathered, the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity, a new, seven-year, US$ 126 million fund was established in 2023. This Fund aims to support Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) creating work opportunities in agriculture, climate impact, digital economy and health in 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The main objective of the Fund is to support SMEs for the purpose of catalyzing, scaling-up and sustaining the creation of dignified and fulfilling work opportunities for young women and men with limited financial means, including young people with disabilities and refugee youth.

The Fund aims to support an innovative SME portfolio (including women-led SMEs) with high impact potential for creating and sustaining dignified and fulfilling work opportunities for young women and men with limited financial means.

This challenge fund accepts applications for innovative financial solutions that expand and deepen financial inclusion for poor people in rural areas of Africa. The Fund also finances select solutions that have been implemented successfully and are ready for scaling to new markets, a new geographic area, or for a new use. Currently, the 2017/2018 competitions are open to receive applications for financial support. Unlike previous 2015 and 2016 competitions, the current competition follows a ‘rolling’ format, open throughout the year with applications submitted and evaluated periodically.

Since it was launched in 2015, the Fund has held four competitions. A total of 21 projects across Sub-Saharan Africa have received financial support thus far. 

KPMG's IDAS practice, in consortium with Nathan Associates London Ltd and IPE Triple Line, has provided the full range of fund management services to the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity including design, competition management, grantee contracting, financial and programme management oversight, monitoring, and evaluation. Working with KPMG, the Fund aims to reach one million financially excluded people in rural and agricultural areas in sub-Saharan Africa.

Read more about the challenge fund here.