$8m Micf fund on track
The Malawi Innovative Challenge Fund (Micf) says it is pleased with the overwhelming applications for the $8 million fund aimed at providing grant finance to the private sector for innovative projects.
The fund, which was launched on April 23, is complementing government’s efforts to provide a framework and focus on how Malawi may build its productive capacity to exploit opportunities from trading partners.
Micf fund manager Navin Kumar told Business News this week that there has been a positive response and had the opening call for the first round of proposals on April 24. The call closed on May 30.
“It is encouraging to report that we have received applications from all corners of the country from the agriculture and manufacturing sectors that we knew about and some that even surprised us,” he said.
Kumar said the fund received applications from from smaller innovative locally-owned companies to larger well-known companies through to international firms that are yet to establish in Malawi.
He said that the level of innovation and interest that these companies have come forward with has shown that there is a vibrant and maturing private sector in the country.
“It is pleasing to see that there are many businesspeople in Malawi who are thinking of pursuing ideas where the poor can be incorporated into their business models.
“Many have really given considerable thought of how this could be done in practice, through the creation of new jobs for the poor while others are examining the role they can play either as suppliers to their business or as consumers of lower cost products that can impact positively on their daily lives,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Micf is in the process of going through the completion and short-listing process that will be undertaken to select the absolute cream of applications to submit a full proposal.
According to Micf, once short-listed companies complete their proposals within a set time frame, the investment committee will be given an unenviable task of deciding which projects will be financed by Micf.
The first round of companies is expected to commence their projects by October 2014.
