The Gates Foundation, the French Agency for Development, and the World Bank announce their Development Competition. This is a great opportunity for those seeking to entrepreneur for development.
Innovative Finance for Development Competition
– 5 grant awards of $100,000 each– Finalists flown to conference in Paris to showcase ideas to donors– Short first-round proposals due mid-NovemberThe Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Bank will co-host an international Marketplace on Innovative Financial Solutions for Development to be held in Paris on March, 4-5 2010. The conference features a competition for innovative ideas in development finance. Competition guidelines and full details can be found at www.fininnov.orgGRANTS COMPETITION REWARDS INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENTThe Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the World Bank today launched a Marketplace on Innovative Financial Solutions for Development (2010 MIF), a competition that will award grants of up to US$100’000 to the winners to assist in the implementation of pilot projects. The 2010 MIF, the first of its kind, seeks to garner and highlight fresh ideas on the use of innovative financing mechanisms to solve development challenges at local, country, regional, or global levels, with the goal that successful innovations may be scaled up and replicated.Proposals should focus on ways to: (i) mitigate or share risks that hamper development and/or (ii) improve or alter incentive structures to achieve better results for development. The 2010 MIF seeks financial solutions to:– address volatility and improve efficiency of public sector finance;– catalyze investment by and for the enterprise and private sector; and– improve livelihoods of poor households.Proposals are welcomed from all organizations involved in innovative finance focused on development, including financial institutions, private-sector companies, social enterprises, non-governmental and civil society organizations, governments/government agencies, universities and other academic organizations, foundations, and development organizations. The Guidelines and application forms can be accessed on this website. Proposals must be submitted in English or French by November 15, 2009. Finalists will be invited to Paris to present their proposals at the Marketplace.The 2010 MIF will be structured around a conference and workshops where innovators can showcase their initiatives and projects. The event will be dedicated to smart, fine-tuned, innovative financial mechanisms for mobilizing, channeling, and spending funds for development issues. It will bring together development practioners, donors, philanthropists, social entrepreneurs, academics, representatives from across a range of financial institutions, and policy makers to exchange experience and ideas on innovative development finance solutions.
