2021 Q4 Board Book (Staff)

The December 13-14th, 2021 Board Meeting, focused on the Foundation's continued commitment to its "Young Africa Works" strategy and a focus on scaling its impact to achieve its goal of enabling 30 million young people, particularly young women, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030. The Foundation is also focused on building its own organizational capacity and developing strategic partnerships.

Key activities and initiatives include:

1) Reimagining Work: The Foundation is implementing country-specific roadmaps for its Young Africa Works program. This includes roadmaps for Nigeria, which aims to enable 10 million young people to access work opportunities by 2030, with a focus on agriculture, the creative industries and the digital economy. The Foundation is also developing a new operating model.

2) Young Africa Works: The Foundation reports that 2,309,920 youth are now in dignified and fulfilling work. The majority of this work is in agriculture, MSMEs, and the digital economy. The program is focused on supporting MSMEs and strengthening agricultural value chains. The Foundation has also prioritized gender equality and is aiming for 70% of the beneficiaries of the Young Africa Works program to be young women.

3) Country Programs: The Foundation is working to implement its Young Africa Works roadmaps, with a focus on Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda. The Foundation is requesting approval for $300 million over the next four years for Kenya, which aims to enable 7 million young people to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030. A similar request for $220 million over the next four years was made for Rwanda, which aims to enable 300,000 young people to access work by 2030.

4) Scholars Program: The Foundation is on track to achieving its target of 100,000 scholars by 2030. The program supports young people through education and training, with a focus on leadership, inclusion, and entrepreneurship. The Foundation has committed $574.3 million to the program, with $292.5 million disbursed.

5) Regional Programs: The Foundation has committed $532.1M to regional programs, with $234.8M disbursed. Regional programs are focused on critical needs such as food security and access to education.

6) Foundation Investment Fund: The Foundation is exploring the development of a Young Africa Works Investment Fund, to make direct investments into companies in priority sectors. The Foundation is considering deploying capital alongside philanthropic funding.

7) COVID-19 Response: The Foundation's Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative with the Africa CDC is helping to expand national vaccine delivery plans and has mobilized other funders. The Foundation is also partnering with the Food and Agriculture Organization to avert food losses.

8) Financial Commitments: The Foundation has committed a total of $2.5 billion since 2017. A total of $988.7 million has been committed to African organizations.

9) Impact Measurement: The Foundation is continuing to develop its approach to measuring impact, focusing on shared outcome measures and independent evaluations. The Foundation is committed to using a performance-based approach that covers the entire organization.

10) Internal Capacity: The Foundation is working to strengthen its internal capacity by recruiting and onboarding new staff and developing new policies and processes. The Foundation has increased its staff headcount by 40% year on year, with 489 total operating staff at the end of 2021.

In Q4 2021, the Mastercard Foundation is focused on implementing its Young Africa Works strategy, scaling its programs, and on achieving its goal of enabling 30 million young people to access dignified and fulfilling work. There is an emphasis on building the capacity of African organizations and on promoting inclusivity across its initiatives. The Foundation is working to become more performance and evidence-driven, while also strengthening its internal capabilities.