Broad Agency Announcement For Mobilizing Financing for Agriculture | 72064119R00001

Opportunity Information: Apply for 72064119R00001

USAID, through its Ghana mission in Accra, issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) titled "Mobilizing Financing for Agriculture" (Opportunity No. 72064119R00001) to find partners who can help unlock better financing for agricultural actors. The core problem the BAA targets is the persistent lack of affordable, appropriately structured capital in agriculture, especially financing that comes with lower interest rates and longer repayment periods (tenors). USAID is looking for ideas that can expand access to this kind of finance so businesses and farmers can invest in productive assets and participate more effectively in trade.

Rather than a traditional grant competition with a fixed project plan, this BAA is designed around collaboration. USAID is inviting organizations and companies to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) describing how they could contribute to innovative solutions. A key feature is co-creation and co-design: selected respondents may be invited to work directly with USAID to shape the final approach, refine the problem framing, and develop research and development (R and D) style solutions. In other words, the EOI is an entry point into a partnership-building process, where the final interventions may be developed jointly instead of being fully prescribed upfront.

Co-investing is central to the opportunity. USAID emphasizes shared responsibility, shared risk, and shared resourcing, meaning partners are expected to bring something material to the table beyond just ideas. Contributions can include cash, but they can also be non-cash resources such as technical expertise, in-kind support, intellectual property, brand value, convening power, access to distribution networks, relationships with financial institutions or agribusinesses, and access to important data, markets, or decision-makers. Importantly, USAID notes that co-investment does not need to be equal on a dollar-for-dollar basis; it should be proportional to the project objectives and reflect each partner's comparative advantage.

The announcement also signals that USAID may release addenda over time under the same BAA framework. These addenda could narrow in on specific sub-problems, require feasibility studies, explore scalability pathways, or introduce other R and D initiatives tied to the overarching challenge of mobilizing agricultural finance. Future addenda may also introduce additional administrative details such as new submission requirements, concept paper instructions, evaluation criteria, and deadlines. The overarching terms of the BAA would still apply to any addendum that USAID issues.

From an eligibility standpoint, the opportunity is broadly open: the listing indicates "unrestricted" eligibility, meaning any type of entity may respond unless later clarified in the full text or addenda. The activity sits in the agriculture sector and is associated with CFDA 98.001 (USAID Foreign Assistance Programs for Overseas). The legal authority cited is FAR 35.016(c), which is commonly used for broad agency announcements focused on research and development; USAID explicitly notes this is not a FAR Part 15 procurement, reinforcing that the mechanism is oriented toward collaborative solution development rather than a standard procurement solicitation.

The posting information shows a creation date of October 30, 2018, with an original closing date of November 29, 2018, and it lists an expectation of one award while also showing an award ceiling of 0 (often a sign that funding levels were not predetermined at the time of posting or would be set during co-creation/addenda). Overall, the opportunity is best understood as USAID inviting the market of potential partners to bring forward workable, innovative financing concepts and complementary resources, then jointly shaping those concepts into implementable pilots or scalable models that can reduce the cost of capital and extend repayment timelines for agricultural investment and trade.

• The Agency for International Development, Ghana USAID-Accra in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Broad Agency Announcement For Mobilizing Financing for Agriculture" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 30, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 29, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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