Forget the $50,000 from local angel investors, innovators from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi have a chance to win over US$350,000 from TradeMark East Africa Challenge Fund (TRAC).
The US$250,000 to US$350,000 per project grants are open to private sector and civil society projects which can boost regional trade in the region and globally.
According to TRAC, the grants will be awarded under three categories.
The first one will be for commercially viable business innovations that help boost cross-border trade and has social welfare gains. The second category will be for projects catalyzing innovation in services that reduce the cost of cross-border trade in East Africa. Such projects can be Finance, ICT, Insurance, Professional, and logistics service firms. The third category will be for projects that can help gather evidence and mobilize public opinion. This will help support public participation in the reforms process. reforms.
Interested firms should submit their Project Concept Notes (PCNs) to TRAC before November 18th 2013. The PCN’s should outline the capability of the applicants project and why the firm thinks their project is best suited for the task. TRAC will then review and evaluate the projects, conduct due diligence and select grantees.
The fund is an initiative of TradeMark East Africa, a not-for-profit organisation promoting regional trade and economic integration in East Africa.