African Development Foundation
 | |
| Founded | 1980 |
|---|---|
| Legal status | Federal agency of the United States |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 38°54′04″N 77°01′56″W / 38.9010349°N 77.0322568°W |
Area served | Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe |
| Methods | $17 million to 200 projects in 20 African countries. $4.8 million to capacity-building organizations in Africa. |
Chair of the Board of Directors | Jack Leslie[1] |
| Shari Berenbach[2] | |
| Slogan | Fostering hope, growth, and goodwill in Africa |
| Mission | To support under-served marginalized communities in Africa with resources that help create better economic opportunities and an improved quality of life |
| Website |
www |
The United States African Development Foundation (USADF) is an Independent United States Government Agency that provides grants of up to $250,000 to community groups and small enterprises that benefit under-served and marginalized groups in Sub-Saharan Africa.[3]
The African Development Foundation measures grant success in terms of jobs created and sustained, increased incomes levels, and improved social conditions. In 2010, African Development Foundation budgeted over $20 million for project grants in 20 countries. An additional $4.5 million was budgeted for African-directed partner organizations that provide technical design and implementation support for the African Development Foundation's grantees.[4]
History
Created by an Act of Congress in 1980, the African Development Foundation began program operations in 1984. It has since provided financing to more than 1,500 small enterprises and community-based organizations.[5]
The budget of the African Development Foundation is funded through annual United States government appropriations for foreign operations. The African Development Foundation is governed by a board of directors that includes seven members who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate.[6]
Operations
The African Development Fund operates in Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The African Development Fund planned to begin a new program in the Turkana region of Kenya and a special food security project in the Sahel region of West Africa in 2011.[5]
In 2005, the United States Office of Management and Budget rated African Development Fund's programs fully effective under its Performance Assessment Rating Tool program, an efficiency recognition that has been accorded to less than ten percent of United States Government grant-making programs. The African Development Fund receives most of its programming resources from the United States government, but the African Development Fund has also established strategic partnerships with African governments and private corporations to leverage the impact of its federal funding.
Programs
The African Development Fund's programs focus on supporting small local or community businesses and individuals. It supports programs that will provide increased employment for their areas of service.
Enterprise Expansion Grants
Enterprise expansion grants provide assistance for cooperatives, farmer associations, community groups, enterprises, or businesses that have developed a plan for expansion. The grants can amount to up to $250,000 and can last for up to five years. Applications for grants are reviewed by field staff of the African Development Fund that work on the ground in African countries. If a business or organization receives funding from the African Development Fund, it is eligible to work with partner organizations that will help them turn their plan into a reality by providing technical or managerial support or assistance.
Operational Assistance Grants
Operational assistance grants offer funding for preexisting cooperatives, farmer associations, community groups, enterprises, or businesses who plan to engage in technical, managerial, organizational improvements. The grants can be up to $100,000 over two years.
Capacity Building
The African Development Fund apportions significant amounts of money for organizations that deliver technical, organizational, managerial services to businesses and organizations that receive funding from the African Development Fund. The African Development Fund believes that grant recipients will better utilize funding if they have the best technical, organizational, managerial, leadership skills possible. Organizations that help build capacity in local communities, or other local organizations are also eligible for grants from the African Development Fund. The African Development Fund believes these organizations help ensure the success of the initiatives that the African Development Fund sponsors. Four-million dollars was provided for capacity-building organizations in 2011.[7]
Employee satisfaction
According to an annual survey of United States federal employees' job satisfaction, the African Development Foundation ranked lowest of all federal agencies surveyed with 18 percent of its employees saying they are satisfied with their jobs in 2015.[8]
See also
References and notes
- ↑ "Board of Directors". United States African Development Foundation. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Management & Staff". United States African Development Foundation. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
- ↑ Marginalized groups are people that have significant needs that are not being currently addressed by existing governments programs, NGOs, or other international development efforts.
- ↑ About USADF, www.usadf.gov. Retrieved on 2009-03-23.
- 1 2 USADF Programs, Quick Source Information Directory, www.usadf.gov. Retrieved on 2009-03-23.
- ↑ USADF Annual budgets, Quick Source Information Directory, www.usadf.gov. Retrieved on 2009-03-23.
- ↑ "USADF's foundations". USADF. 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
- ↑ Dinan, Stephen (September 28, 2015). "Homeland Security ranks as worst federal agency for employees". The Washington Times. Retrieved November 13, 2015.