African Diaspora Marketplace business competition now open

The African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM) was launched last year, with support from USAID and Western Union Company. The ADM encourages economic growth and employment by supporting U.S.-based African Diaspora entrepreneurs with innovating and high-impact ideas for start-up and established businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Click here for a list of previous winning projects.

ADM has just launched the next competition for Africans in the diaspora to submit their business plans and receive grants. The grants give priority to high-impact sectors in Africa, including agribusiness, renewable energy, and information and communication technology (ICT).

See the press release below:

The African Diaspora Marketplace II business plan competition portal is now open! Its now time to submit your application. You have time period of a little over a month in which to submit your application. The ADM II will be accepting application through February 3, 2012 and 5 p.m. (17:00) EST. Please click this link to submit your application: ADM II Application

For details about the ADM II business plan competition please visit: http://www.diasporamarketplace.org/. Please make sure you read and understand the guidelines. Remember the ADM will award 15-30 winning businesses with matching partnership grants approximately USD 50,000.

Please make sure you are aware of the timelines (click here: Timeline)

Competition Timeline and Key Steps

Date	Activity
December 16, 2011 –  February 3, 2012	Call for proposals closes at 5 p.m., EST (21:00 GMT)
Mid-April 2012 Announcement of Finalists	Finalists will be asked to submit a detailed business plan. The exact number of finalists will be determined by the availability of total funds.
Mid May 2012 Submission of finalists' business plans	Finalists will be invited to the 2012 African Diaspora Marketplace. Finalists must attend the ADM event in order to be eligible to receive grant funding. Finalists are also expected to cover travel costs (including the cost of accommodation) to and in Washington, DC.
June 2012: African Diaspora Marketplace Event, Washington, DC	At the ADM event, an independent jury comprised of the partners members and leading individuals in the diaspora and international business community will evaluate each proposal and conduct a face-to-face interview with each team in order to select winners.

Contact Robert Sichinga (email: rsichinga@strategicshift.net or phone: 424 4420 424 ) if you have questions, but please make sure you have read the content of the website (http://www.diasporamarketplace.org/) before you call.