Today, USAID announced a new Prosper Africa partnership with ThirdWay Partners and The Nature Conservancy to protect African landscapes and bolster the tourism sector. With $2.5 million in catalytic funding from USAID, ThirdWay, and the Nature Conservancy will unlock a $75 million Africa Conservation and Communities Tourism Fund. This is the first continent-wide investment agreement under USAID’s new Africa Trade and Investment program, USAID’s flagship effort to promote Prosper Africa.
The Fund will invest $75 million to assist safari tour operators across Africa. This will benefit 44,000 community members and generate $40 million in annual revenue for conservation landscape owners, managers, and communities. With a protected area larger than the U.S. state of California, the fund will cover parts of Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia.
This partnership advances the U.S. government’s goals to tackle the climate crisis and harness the opportunity to generate jobs, grow clean energy economies, and build resilient communities. Through Prosper Africa, USAID is leveraging private sector partnerships to address pressing global challenges and build a more sustainable future.
Prosper Africa is the U.S. government initiative to substantially increase two-way trade and investment between African nations and the United States. The initiative mobilizes all of the U.S. government’s trade and investment support services, across 17 participating departments and agencies, to help U.S. and Africa businesses and investors identify partners, advance opportunities, and close deals. For more information about Prosper Africa, visit prosperafrica.gov.