YALI Alumni Innovation Fund (YAIF) 2019 is open for application.

The Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Center, West Africa, Accra provides the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs in West Africa with seed capital for competitively selected young African entrepreneurs. Furthermore, YALI RLCs are empowering young people through academic coursework, leadership training, mentoring, and networking. In addition, selected YALI Alumni in West Africa have this opportunity to qualify for YALI Alumni Innovation Fund (YAIF) to start-up and expand their ventures.

The support will enable investments in promising enterprises, thereby fostering opportunity and development in Africa. Objectives include: selecting and funding young African leaders to launch or expand their revenue-generating ventures; and also, linking young leaders with business development partners to facilitate mentoring, provide professional advice and technical know-how, and improve business outcomes.

Entrepreneurship Grants

YAIF anticipates competitively awarding entrepreneurship grants of up to USD $10,000 each to promising young business or social entrepreneurs in Africa. The grants are for start-up or expand ventures, covering costs such as executing market plans, conducting technical studies, testing new products and services, expanding facilities, and/or furthering related business expansion or start-up activities.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicant must be under 40 years old by date of submission.
• The applicant must live and work in one of the following 9 countries;
  1. Togo, 2. Nigeria, 3. Ghana, 4. Ivory Coast, 5. The Gambia, 6. Burkina Faso, 7. Liberia, 8. Cameroon 9. Sierra Leone
• In addition, the businesses and social ventures must be 100 percent African-owned and managed, and based in and operating (in one of the countries listed above) where the applicant also lives and works.
• Furthermore, applicants must be the founder and/or one of the lead principals in the enterprise that he or she is proposing for grant funding.
• Also, YAIF Grant competition will only consider individuals launching or expanding a business or social venture that is operating in good standing with the local and national governments and is adhering to other common international standards. In addition, YALI will not award Entrepreneurship Grant funding to:

1. Government entities
2. companies or organizations where the YALI RLC participant is not a principal or owner;
3. similarly, companies or organizations that are not 100% African-owned and managed;
4. ventures sponsoring terrorism, and or the production and promotion of alcoholic beverages, gambling facilities, firearms, nor other commodities not making a positive contribution to development.