Deadline: 25-Jun-21
The Arab Financial Inclusion Innovation Prize (AFIIP) has launched applications for Innovating Financial Inclusion at the center of innovation in the Arab world.
Depending on your solution, this year there are two ways to apply:
- Innovation for Financial Inclusion
- AFIIP is back to identify and support financially inclusive solutions
- Do you have an idea that can:
- Increase the outreach of financial services
- Reduce the costs of financial services
- Build financial resilience and economic opportunities
- Enhance the financial ecosystem of the Arab world
- Then they are ready to support you and take your solution to the next level. Whether you are a start-up or an incumbent financial institution, operating across the financial sector from payments to insurance, savings to education to back-office solutions, apply now to join the network of financially inclusive innovation.
- Financial Innovation for their Planet
- This year they are also scouting for sustainability.
- Do you have financial innovation that can:
- Mitigate the risks of climate change
- Increase environmental resilience for the low-income and MSMEs
- Provide sustainable opportunities to the underserved
- Enhance the green finance ecosystem of the Arab world
- They will support solutions that can improve the access and affordability of financial services while generating green outcomes, such as cleaner energy, reduced greenhouse gases, increased resilience to environmental shocks, and greater biodiversity in the Arab region.
Prize Details
- Amount: Up to $60,000
Eligibility Criteria
- Geography: Eligible proposals must be for implementation in the Arab world. Residency in an Arab country is not required, but at least one member of the team must hold an Arab nationality. The proposed innovation must be for implementation in the Arab world, defined as the member countries of the Arab league.
- Stage of Development: Innovative proposals at all stages of development are welcome. Applicants must be able to show that their innovation can be successfully applied to the sector. Microfinance and financial inclusion are defined in their broadest sense to encompass a wide range of fields, including but not limited to: credit, savings, insurance, payment services, Islamic finance, fund transfers, responsible investment, collective banking, and business development services of micro-enterprises.
- Team: They welcome applicants of many types to apply for the prize, including individuals, small businesses, MFIs, NGOs, students, cooperatives, commercial banks, local development banks, leasing firms, insurance companies, and fintech enterprises.
Judging Criteria
- The Team: their backgrounds, capability and cohesiveness.
- Innovation: proving that the proposal offers a new, creative solution to existing problems and make processes more efficient.
- Impact on financial inclusion: based on AFIIP’s three core objectives to further financial inclusion: increasing outreach, reducing costs and better serving end-clients. A preference was given to innovations with a direct measurable impact on the end clients.
- Marketability: demonstrating a significant probability of finding a market in the Arab world, an understanding of the existing market, and evidencing potential for scalability and growth.
- Implementation: demonstrating how the proposal can be effectively implemented in the Arab world within a defined timeframe.
- Quality of proposal and funding: providing a clear proposal with an outline of relevant funding and budget expectations.
For more information, visit https://www.afiip.org/en/afiip-2021