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download the funding portal (as an Excel file)

The funding portal has been developed by the Emerging Markets Group to bring together accessible information on the top 39 subsidized sources of funding available to companies expanding their business into Africa. 

The world’s development agencies generally do not target grant funding at corporations looking to expand purely profit-driven activities into the markets of the African sub-continent.  They do, however, show support for private sector involvement in the development process, and are thus striving to develop program initiatives that adequately reflect this sentiment.

The breakdown of programs can be grouped into the following categories: subordinated debt (or soft loans, usually for medium- or long-term needs), equity financing, guarantees and/or risk insurance, and grants (most often for ventures promising social and environmental returns). Grant funding, along with the most forgiving loans, is usually aimed at providing the added push for companies that might otherwise not have the means, such as in the form of paying for pre-start up feasibility studies or sharing in the costs of procuring expensive industrial equipment.

Private companies probably stand to gain the most from private sector development programs though other various forms of assistance provided either directly or indirectly via the organisation’s vast networks of officials and business leaders.  There is also seed/start-up capital available for smaller local enterprises.  For larger foreign interests there are numerous forms of technical assistance being offered, from targeted market research to subsidized short-term experts who can be sent throughout the various stages of a company’s development.  As a general rule, the more a group can demonstrate an explicit development mission, and also establish ties with local entities, the more likely they are to qualify for generous grant and loan packages.  And as is frequently the case in international business and trade, third party nationals should almost always be able to find support through their own country’s business promotion, export and development agencies. 

The funding portal does not purport to represent all that exists, but it is largely representative of the types of organizations supporting the growth of the private sector in Africa:

1) Subsidized funding for all (Grants, soft loans, guarantees, and equity)

2) Shared risk products and targeted investment incentives (i.e. targeting companies with ties to specific countries/communities, or those operating within a specific country/sector)