LAGOS, NIGERIA – Africa’s largest philanthropy supporting entrepreneurship – The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is now accepting applications for business ideas that can transform Africa. 

To apply, complete the online application at application.tonyelumelufoundation.org.  The deadline is midnight (WAT) on 1 March 2018.

The Programme provides critical tools for business success, including:

• Training:12 weeks of intensive online training which guides creating and managing a business
• Mentoring:A world-class mentor to guide during the early transformation stages of the business
• Funding:$5,000* in seed capital to prove the concept, plus access to further funding
• Network:Access to the largest network of African start-ups and TEF’s own global contacts

The Programme, in its 4^th cycle, is TEF’s 10-year, $100 million commitment to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs by 2024.

TEF Founder, serial entrepreneur and philanthropist Tony O. Elumelu, CON said:

“When we launched the TEF Programme and committed $100 million to empowering Africa’s entrepreneurs, I knew we would create impact, but I never imagined it would be impact of this magnitude. We have unleashed a movement of African entrepreneurs — a force so strong, so inspiring, that I am confident they will collectively transform Africa. We need Africa’s best and brightest entrepreneurs to come learn, grow their businesses and build our continent.”

1,000 entrepreneurs will be selected based on the viability of their idea, including: market opportunity; financial understanding; scalability; and leadership and entrepreneurial skills demonstrated in the application.

Eligibility:

1. The business must be based in Africa
2. The business must be for profit
3. The business must be 0-3 years old
4. Applicants must be at least 18 and a legal resident or citizen of an African country

For more information or to apply, visit: http://www.tonyelumelufoundation.org/about-tef/application-process/

The MEASURE Evaluation project has announced a request for applications for its small grants program to increase the evidence base in routine health information systems (RHIS) in family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH). 

The small grants are intended to support primary and secondary data analysis – especially national and sub-national program or policy evaluation. The overall goal is to use the research findings to improve RHIS and advance FP outcomes. Small grant recipients are expected to produce a publishable manuscript and complete a data use activity.

Objectives

The three primary objectives of this program are:

• To build research capacity among local agencies
• To address research gaps in routine health information for FP/RH to inform policy and programmatic decision-making
• To increase use of research findings by providing an opportunity for the data to be disseminated to and used by local stakeholders

Funding Information

The base amount for a small grant is US$10,000, which is intended to cover basic research expenses for a twelve-month timeline.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible candidates include country or regional academic institutions or centers, non-profit and for-profit research organizations, parastatals, and research-focused NGOs or firms. Individuals representing themselves and not an institution/ organization, as well as those representing a regional/field office for an international NGO are ineligible for this funding opportunity. All candidates must be from a USAIDFP/RH priority country (listed below). Candidates must be seeking to build their research and/or data use capacity.
• Eligible proposals should be comprised of a team of three people (minimum), submitted on behalf of an NGO, university, etc. The team should have previous research experience, preferably in FP specifically, or RH in general, but need not be highly proficient in research techniques as technical and administrative assistance will be available to sub-grantees at all stages of the small grants program to build organizational research capacity.
• Eligible applications will use appropriate and rigorous methods to respond to a question of interest to stakeholders in the country or region being studied. Potential topic areas are listed at the end of the RFA. Applications should also include data use activities and/or products that help ensure the use of research findings by appropriate stakeholders, which may include: the development of a short briefing paper with recommendations and a presentation of the key actionable findings from the analysis; holding a workshop for policymakers and/or program decision makers to discuss key findings and the implication of these findings for policies and programs; organizing a meeting with national or regional level staff from the ministry of health to discuss the research findings and develop an action plan based on the findings; and so forth.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted at the address given on the website.

Eligible Countries

• Caribbean: Haiti
• Middle East: Yemen
• Asia: Philippines, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh
• Africa: South Sudan, Ghana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Liberia, Zambia, Rwanda, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Mali, Democratic Republic of the Congo

For more information, please visit MEASURE Evaluation.

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the Global Drug Facility (GDF) through this Call for Proposals (CFP), is currently accepting proposals from qualified organizations interested in receiving grant support to develop and implement tools that will help improve GDF’s approach to quantification and forecasting of new drugs and regimens.

The objective of this CFP is to identify an organization with a proven track record working in drug-resistant TB, particularly with new drugs, which can develop tools to improve the quantification and forecasting approach to new drugs.

The scope of work of this grant aims to develop validated tools to improve quantification and forecasting for new drugs and regimens for drug-resistant TB over the course of one year.

Funding Information

Grant Proposals must not exceed USD 215,000, any amount over the ceiling must be co-financed by the selected organization.

Eligibility Criteria

The minimum eligibility criteria are:

• Not-for-profit international or national non-governmental organizations.
• Demonstrated experience and expertise in:
• • • Clinical management of drug-resistant TB with new drugs and/or new regimens;
    • Facilitating introduction of new tools for the diagnosis, prevention and/or treatment of TB; and,
    • Experience in coordinating multi-stakeholder technical inputs, consolidating, analysing and presenting results.
  • Presence and/or network to carry out the project activities in multiple countries, as needed
  • Good relationships with key stakeholders in the TB space, including but not limited to delivery agencies, funders, normative agencies, and regulatory bodies.
  • Administrative, financial, and technical capacity to carry out the project activities within the time frame required.

  How to Apply

  Applications must be submitted via email at the address given on the website.

  For more information, please visit Call for Proposals.

Here at The Varkey Foundation we believe in the power of new ideas to shape the future of education. But we know that taking a great idea off the drawing board and into the real world doesn’t just take hard work – it takes support. That’s why we created our Challenge Fund.

We believe every child deserves a good teacher. But we also know that the international community isn’t doing enough to make that happen. Global investment in education is falling and many schools around the world lack leaders and qualified teaching staff. Research by The Varkey Foundation has also found that the global status of teachers is very mixed – and few parents would actively encourage their children to join the teaching profession.
 
To help solve this problem, The Varkey Foundation will partner with other organizations to create a global change in the way teachers are trained, treated and perceived. Through our Challenge Fund, we will support partner organizations who are working on big new ideas for education – and to boost the status of teachers worldwide.
 
The Varkey Foundation Challenge Fund is aimed at supporting a small number of early-stage initiatives, with individual grants of up to US$50,000 available to help build the capacity of teachers and to strengthen the status of the teaching profession.

Apply for a grant

On the basis of our portfolio and areas of interest, The Varkey Foundation is particularly interested in receiving proposals which address the following:

• The recruitment and retention of teachers
• Influencing public policy and discourse about the teaching profession
• School leadership and management
• Support to teachers and school leaders in Fragile and Conflict States (FCAS) and emergency situations
• Teacher-related challenges 

Click here to read more about the Challenge Fund or here to apply.

When Tesla unveiled its Semi electric truck last week, everyone agreed that it looked cool, but some actual truckers weren't necessarily sold on its functionality. Most observers will be impressed with the pricing if it holds, though. Tesla has listed estimated price on its Semi website for the 300- and 500-mile versions of $150,000 and $180,000 respectively, less than some pundits predicted. The fancier Founders Series, with the top specs, will cost $200,000. Looking at the $180,000 model, it's still around $60,000 more than a diesel-powered semi truck. However, the Semi could cost around 20 percent less to run, Tesla estimates, putting savings over a million miles at around $250,000.

The Tesla Semi will improve the trucker experience with an Enhanced Autopilot (automatic emergency braking, automatic lane keeping and lane departure warning) that will improve safety for drivers and other vehicles. It also features jackknife protection, sensors and cameras meant to reduce blind spots. For a truck it'll also have crazy acceleration, which could be useful for hill-climbing and other chores.

Source: Engadget

The African Growth and Development Policy (AGRODEP) Modeling Consortium has launched a special call for membership. Applications from researchers engaged in trade policy analysis, value chain analysis, or agricultural transformation and investments, are strongly encouraged. Applications from female researchers and researchers from African countries which have low representation in AGRODEP are also encouraged.

AGRODEP seeks to build a dynamic research community that can respond to the emerging and long-term needs of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme’s (CAADP) growth and poverty reduction agenda. The AGRODEP network currently includes 181 regular members from 27 African countries and 30 affiliate members who are either based outside Africa or work in international organizations in Africa.

Membership in AGRODEP is free and provides benefits to its members, including access to and training on state of the art economic modeling tools, better access to data for research and policy analysis, collaboration with leading African scientists and their peers outside Africa, and eligibility to apply for research grants.

To be considered for membership, applicants must:

• Be a citizen of an African country
• Be based in Africa
• Have obtained a Ph.D. within the last 15 years, be currently be pursuing a Ph.D. degree, or possess a Master’s degree in combination with technical skills and experience.

Application deadline: November 30, 2017
For the full call, including the application procedure, please visit the AGRODEP website.

The Africa Region of the World Bank Group (WBG) invites Ph.D. students and recent graduates who are Sub-Saharan nationals to apply for the third Africa Fellowship Program by November 19, 2017.

The World Bank Group Africa Fellowship Program aims to build a pipeline of Sub-Saharan African researchers and professionals, particularly women, who are interested in working in the development field at home or abroad, and in starting careers with the WBG.

Fellows will spend a minimum of six months at the World Bank offices in Washington, D.C. or in field offices, getting hands-on experience in development work. This includes knowledge generation and dissemination, design of global and country policies, and the building of institutions to achieve inclusive growth in developing countries. While benefitting from research and innovation in multiple sectors, fellows will also work on research, economic policy, technical assistance, and lending operations that contribute to the World Bank goal of eliminating poverty and increasing shared prosperity.

This year, thanks to a generous contribution from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), there are 10 additional fellowship positions with a special focus on forced displacement. The 10 selected fellows will work on forced displacement research in the context of operations led by the World Bank Group (WBG) or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East. For these additional 10 positions, candidates from refugee and internally displaced communities and/or with proven experience on forced displacement will be given a priority.

Fellows will be expected to complete a research project or prepare a research paper to present to staff. High-standard papers may be published internally. Specifically, selected participants will:

• Gain a better understanding of the World Bank Group's mission and operations
• Access quality data for their research work
• Interact with seasoned experts in the field of development
• Contribute to the World Bank Group's mission

Apply online through the World Bank website by November 19, 2017.

The INNOVATE Call for Proposals (the Call) seeks applications from eligible organizations, companies and institutions (i) to pilot a Non-Traditional Finance (NTF) product/service focused on rapid testing and learning OR (ii) to document through a case study an ongoing or completed initiative related to NTF. The initiatives should demonstrate the potential and/or ability of products, services, or delivery channels that can catalyze and/or foster the adoption of agricultural innovations by women and men smallholder farmers in East Africa, South America (the Andes) and South Asia.

INNOVATE aims to learn from the experiences of the grant recipients; to test and document which products, services or delivery channels have potential to catalyze agricultural innovation by smallholder farmers. Therefore, a key focus of the Call is learning. The Call also has a focus on gender, in which applicants shall clearly differentiate between women and men’s priorities and needs, treating them as distinct market segments in the proposal and research process.

Successful proposals will be awarded up to CAD $200,000 (pilot award) or up to CAD $50,000 (case study award).

Eligibility Criteria

• Minimum organizational requirements:
  • Legally registered entities with audited financial statements for the last two years and proof of legal registration for a commercial entity/NGO, or proof of legal registration for a research institute AND current financial policy and procedures
  • Minimum three years' experience
• Applicants shall propose initiatives for implementation in the target regions/countries:
  • East Africa (Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda)
  • South America (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru)
  • South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka)
• Applicants shall apply only for one type of grant and clearly identify/demonstrate a matching contribution.

How to Apply

1. Review the Call Application Guidelines.
2. Download the Proposal Form(PDF) and Budget Template (Excel) (link to app docs) and prepare your proposal. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to complete the Proposal Form.
3. Submit your application through the Online Application Form and upload your completed proposal and supporting documents.
4. The submission deadline is Friday, October 6, 2017, 11:59PM EST.

Read more

International travel to Africa is expected to reach 18.6 million this year, thanks to the popularity of destinations like South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Cameroon, Mauritius and Tanzania, which account for 70 percent of international trips to the Sub-Saharan region. That figure marks a nearly 7 percent increase compared to 2012, when international arrivals topped out at 16.35 million, reports international market research group Euromonitor. Analysts attribute the growth over the last five years to increased digital integration and cyber connectivity; alliances between hotels, airlines and car rental companies; social media; meta-search engines; the short-term vacation rental market; luxury travel; and niche tourism. 

"Many countries are moving away from only promoting Africa as a traditional safari destination, exploring other niche categories such as beach and medical tourism. The travel and tourism market continues to introduce products that suit different type of travellers, accounting for strong growth in major cities across Sub-Saharan Africa," said Euromonitor Research Analyst Christy Tawii. 

Safaris aside, visitors are also travelling to the region to visit South African vineyards, for example, catch a wave off the coast and bask on its beaches. By 2022, Euromonitor predicts that growth in international arrivals to Sub-Saharan Africa will reach 25 million, thanks to competitive rates, aggressive marketing campaigns and improved air connectivity connecting the region with major markets overseas. This will be especially true for South Africa and Nigeria. 

Meanwhile, an earlier report by Euromonitor also forecast the fastest-growing cities in Africa for 2017, with Kenya leading the charge. Here are the cities to watch out for: 
1. Kisumu, Kenya 
2. Eldoret, Kenya 
3. Nairobi, Kenya 
4. Mombasa, Kenya 
5. Nakuru, Kenya 
6. Tangier, Morocco 
7. Agadir, Morocco 
8. Abuja, Nigeria 
9. Yaoundé, Cameroon 
10. Mansoura, Egypt

Source: News18.com