Invest Salone has established a COVID-19 information portal to collate the latest news and resources for businesses and investors in Sierra Leone.

PROSPER Salone

PROSPER Salone General window

Who can apply?

  • We fund projects led by international and/or domestic investors to enhance their business case to enter or expand into the Sierra Leone market
  • Investors should demonstrate sound financial performance and the capacity to implement the proposed activity
  • Investors should provide matching funds that are at least 20-30% of the total cost of the supported activity
    • The matching funds can be a combination of in-kind and cash contributions and this grant money comes with no interest or other charges attached.

To be eligible for a PROSPER Salone grant, applications must:

  • Clearly articulate the activity needing funding
  • Explain how the activity is different to the investors’ existing activities and how they would not be able to move forward without PROSPER Salone funding
  • Show how the proposed investment project idea is related to promoting positive social and environmental impact
  • Have a plan for commercial sustainability
  • Contribute to building an investor ecosystem in Sierra Leone.

How we help

PROSPER Salone helps investors to:

  • Gain up-to-date information on comparative returns
  • Understand the legal, accounting and regulatory environment
  • Reduce the costs of pipeline development
  • Access better data on market feasibility
  • Connect with entrepreneurs.

Proposals are accepted from organisations or consortiums of organisations. Applicants are awarded funding in disbursements based on milestones and will need to meet reporting requirements as well as pass strict due diligence.

Apply for a PROSPER Salone grant

If you are an international or domestic investor who meets the eligibility criteria, please click the “Apply for a PROSPER Salone grant” button below.

Apply for a PROSPER Salone grant
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
PROSPER Salone Climate window

Achievements to date

ACUMEN

Acumen is an international impact investment firm. It received a PROSPER grant which it has used to:

Run a seven-week bootcamp for 12 Sierra Leonean entrepreneurs to increase their investment-readiness

Host an impact investment deal summit where bootcamp entrepreneurs were able to pitch their business plans to seven international investors

Award a US$10,000 prize to a Sierra Leonean entrepreneur to develop and scale their business

Invest and mobilise additional investment into two companies worth $7.2 million

TRUESTONE

Truestone is a British impact investor which manages a portfolio of early stage and high growth firms in Sierra Leone. It received a PROSPER grant which it has used to:

Develop an impact report using globally recognised metrics to better articulate their impact proposition to investors

Design a fundraising proposition targeting institutional investors

Provide technical assistance and advice to firms in their portfolio to increase their investment readiness

Facilitate investment in three companies worth $8.34 million

CORDAID INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT

Cordaid Investment Management is a global social impact investor. It received a PROSPER Salone grant which it used to:

Develop a pipeline and conduct diagnostic of potential companies for investment

Conduct outreach to institutional investors for fundraising

Build an impact-first investment fund – the West Africa Bright Future Fund – and raised EUR 17 million for investment in Sierra Leone, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea

Invest $1.3 million in two firms operating in the clean energy and microfinance space in Sierra Leone

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