She Connects Digital Accelerator Africa

Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this RFA is to identify and support organizations that are well positioned to implement and scale approaches that expand women's meaningful access to and use of digital technologies to support better health, education, and agriculture/livelihood outcomes for women – and their families and communities.

Applicants should propose models that are practical, inclusive, and appropriate to low-resource settings, and that
demonstrate credible potential to impact at least 50,000 women users within an 18-month grant period.

The SheConnects Digital Accelerator: Africa is particularly interested in approaches that:
• place women's lived realities, needs, and risks at the center of program design and implementation;
• focus on solutions and teams with a track record;
• use digital technologies in ways that are practical, scalable, and responsive to local contexts;
• demonstrate a realistic path to reaching 50,000 or more women users within the grant period;
• build on trusted delivery channels, community partnerships, or strong direct distribution mechanisms;
• articulate how the project could be sustained, scaled, or shared beyond the grant period;
• demonstrate the potential for adaptation or extension across geographies, donor types, and government integration; and
• use responsible AI practices and safeguards if AI is used.

The SheConnects Digital Accelerator: Africa will not fund proposals that:
• Focus only on access, including infrastructure (hubs/labs) and equipment provision
• Propose digital literacy curricula
• Do not support sectoral outcomes
• Are focused only on customer acquisition by increasing the number of female users

3. Scope of Work and Eligible Delivery Models
Applications may propose one or both of the following delivery models: support for Last Mile Service Providers (LMSPs) and Direct to Participant (D2P) initiatives. These models have historically produced the most scalable pathways for reaching women intentionally and effectively. LMSPs provide trust and local context, while D2P often offers a path to efficiency, replication, and large-scale growth. The Accelerator expects that some of the strongest applications may combine both approaches.

3.1 Last Mile Service Providers (LMSPs)
Last Mile Service Providers are frontline actors that already work directly with women and are trusted intermediaries.
These may include community-based organizations, health workers, educators, agricultural extension agents, savings
groups, women's associations, or other local service providers with established relationships and delivery capacity.

3.2 Direct to Participant (D2P)
Direct to Participant approaches reach women directly through digital channels, platforms or services, without relying
primarily on frontline intermediaries for ongoing delivery. Applications using this model should clearly explain how women will be reached, onboarded, supported, retained, and safeguarded throughout implementation.

4. Evaluation Criteria
Applications will be evaluated against the following four criteria. Each criterion is worth 25 points, for a total of 100
points.
4.1 Digital Technology Integration (25 points)
The Accelerator seeks technology-enabled solutions that are practical, inclusive, and well suited to women's daily
realities.
Strong applications will demonstrate:
• a clear rationale for the proposed digital approach and why it is appropriate for the intended users and setting;
• attention to key barriers such as connectivity, device access, affordability, literacy, language, disability inclusion, and
participant support;
• responsible use of AI if applicable, including appropriate human oversight; and
• a clear explanation of how the proposed technology will improve women's meaningful access, confidence, safety, and/or use of digital solutions to drive improved health and nutrition, income and resiliency, and children’s education.
Illustrative approaches may include voice-based services, low-bandwidth tools, digital services that improve
access to livelihood opportunities or essential information, and accessible user interfaces.

4.2 Inclusive Design and Safe Use (25 points)
The Accelerator will support only those solutions that are clearly women-centered. Applications should demonstrate how women's realities, priorities, and risks have informed program design and how those considerations will remain central throughout implementation.
Strong applications will show how the proposed solution accounts for:
• privacy, safety, and security;
• limited time, shared devices, low connectivity, and affordability constraints;
• literacy, language diversity, and disability inclusion; and
• social norms and gatekeepers that affect women's ability to participate.
Applicants must also describe how they will identify, prevent, and respond to risks of gender-based violence, including
technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TF-GBV), as well as risks related to fraud, harassment, or retaliation linked to women's participation in the program.

4.3 Partnership Networks (25 points)
Applications must demonstrate strong partnerships with government, private sector, and/or non-profit organizations that support women participants at scale. These partnerships should play a meaningful role in outreach, onboarding, trust-building, service delivery, participant support, and sustainability. Non-profits should clearly articulate sustainability models.
Applicants should clearly describe:
• the role of each key partner;
• each partner's contribution to delivery, scale, or participant support; and
• how the partnership structure strengthens the overall feasibility and sustainability of the proposed approach.

4.4 Credible Pathway to Scale (25 points)
Applications must present a credible and well-supported pathway to reaching at least 50,000 women users during
the 18-month grant period. Proposals must describe evidence that the intervention works and is cost-effective
compared with alternatives.
Strong applications will include:
• evidence of prior implementation, readiness, or operational capacity;
• a clear roadmap of how women users will be reached and retained at scale;
• realistic assumptions regarding adoption and continued use;
• a cost-conscious and feasible implementation model; and
• a credible strategy for sustainability, replication, or continued growth after grant completion.

Eligible entities for this initiative include:
• Nonprofit and Civil Society Organizations, including registered nonprofits and charities, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), and community-based organizations
• Mission-Driven For-Profit Organizations. For-profit entities that have a clear public-benefit mission aligned with the goals
of the RFP are eligible. Funding cannot be used for core commercial product development, customer acquisition, or
general business operations.
• Consortia, Partnerships, & Collaborative Proposals. Proposals may be submitted through partnerships and other
collaborative arrangements. In such cases, one lead organization must serve as the primary applicant and submit the
proposal, with partner organizations included as sub-grantees.
• Academic institutions

For this initiative, the following entities are not eligible:
• Individuals and organizations classified as individuals for U.S. tax purposes
• Government agencies or departments
• Multilateral and Bilateral institutions as prime applicants, although they may participate as sub-grantees