Four Ghanaian firms have been awarded matching grants ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 during a recent African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM) event held in Washington, DC - January 13. The four companies and their projects are Aceritas Ghana, Limited (Green Acres Goat Farm); MicroClinic Ghana, Limited (Healthcare Access Improvement); Student Card Student Card (Creating a Cashless Environment for our Future Generation) and Ansa Systems Limited (Reliable Power Supply). The four are part of fourteen Diaspora-driven businesses in seven African countries to receive the awards.

Winning entries ranged from a commercial plant tissue culture business that uses biotechnology to increase yield and quality of produce for Ethiopian agriculture producers, to a franchise business model that will empower female nurse entrepreneurs to improve access to healthcare and reduce the burden on government hospitals in Africa.

The grants were financed jointly by USAID, the Western Union Company and the Western Union Foundation, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) in Africa and Irv Barr Management in the United States. The Academy for Educational Development hosted and implemented the ADM event. "The African Diaspora Marketplace has demonstrated that partnership and innovation can lead to powerful solutions to development challenges," remarked Karen Turner, Director of USAID's Office of Development Partners during the opening ceremony. "ADM highlights not only the value of public-private partnership but also the contributions that U.S Diaspora communities can make. Today's event also shows how widely the spirit of entrepreneurship and commitment to economic opportunity - central themes of the upcoming Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship - are shared."

During the ADM conference, finalists pitched their business plans to an independent panel of volunteer judges from business, non-governmental organizations, Diaspora development organizations and academia. Out of 733 innovative business proposals from U.S.-based African Diaspora, the panel evaluated 58 final business plans and selected final grant recipients based on criteria that included the business idea and management framework, prospects for sustainability, capacity to leverage Diaspora resources and results orientation. A full list of the awardees is available at http://www.diasporamarketplace.org/awardees