WHY DOES THE MASTERCARD FOUNDATION FUND FOR RURAL PROSPERITY EXIST?
Rural people need financial services that allow them to alter their livelihood strategies, to develop better ways of managing wealth, earn an income and reduce their vulnerability of falling into poverty traps.
Over the recent past, challenge funds have become an established mechanism through which to encourage the private sector to deliver social outcomes (to shift commercial goals closer to social objectives). Using the challenge fund approach, the Fund has been able to select and start supporting several private sector businesses across Sub Saharan Africa.
The businesses have been selected because of their focus on the development of ideas for new products, services or processes that increase access to finance for rural people. In addition, some projects were selected because of their potential to scale up their most promising ideas to drive financial inclusion for large numbers of smallholder farmers and rural people in new geographic areas.