Requesting Enterprise Growth Assistance 

Currently, our primary focus is on identifying the first group of small & micro enterprises to receive our growth assistance. We are covering all the countries of Africa but for the first half of 2008, we are placing more emphasis on requests from Eastern Nigeria. We will still accept letters of inquiry for Africa based projects, to be considered during the 2^nd half of 2008.

While we prefer that requests come from well established not-for-profit organizations looking after the interest of several micro entrepreneurs, we will still accept well  articulated submissions from sole entrepreneurs. Please note that to make some proposals/projects more viable, ICA may suggest that several entrepreneurs merge their operations into a larger entity and or a co-op.

Please note that we receive many requests for help and sincerely wish we could assist everyone. Our determination process generally follows these steps:

• Your organization submits a letter of inquiry that follows our guidelines.
  
• We review the letter and determine whether it is within our current program scope. 
  
• You submit a formal proposal only if you are invited. 
  
• Organizations are contacted when funding has been approved or declined.

Letter of Inquiry Requirements

To submit a letter of inquiry, send us the following information on the organization's letterhead:

A brief history of the organization

A brief explanation of the proposed project, including the amount requested, timeline of use, issues the project will address and the population served

The estimated budget for the project

Qualifications of those involved in the project

Organization's tax status

Contact information

Letters of inquiry should be three pages or less.

   
Send the letter or email to:

Executive Director
ICAfrica -  International Charity for Africa
P.O. Box 26012
Ottawa, ON
Canada  K2H 9R6
email: admin@icafrica.com

ICAfrica will make best efforts to send a written response to all organizations that submit a letter of inquiry. There will be no need for contacting us to verify status.