The Fund for Alumni Start-ups in Transition (FAST) Program, which aims to empower young African entrepreneurs by offering funding, mentorship, and enterprise development support, is now accepting applications from the Mastercard Foundation.
- The Fund for Alumni Start-ups in Transition (FAST) Program, which aims to empower young African entrepreneurs by offering funding, mentorship,...
- The FAST Programme seeks to support young entrepreneurs as they transition from school to long-term employment and business creation and...
- Together, these groups offer participating entrepreneurs technical assistance, business training, and mentoring.
- Build Phase The Build Phase supports entrepreneurs who are prepared to scale their concepts into functional businesses.
Keep reading for the full breakdown on African entrepreneurs — everything you need to know is covered below.
The FAST Programme seeks to support young entrepreneurs as they transition from school to long-term employment and business creation and to strengthen youth-led businesses.
The FAST Program is an ongoing initiative that provides mentorship, training, and financial support to young entrepreneurs. The programme’s main goal is to develop robust entrepreneurial ecosystems while helping young inventors turn their concepts into profitable ventures.
FAST Programme main goals
The programme’s main goals are as follows:
- Supporting early-stage African entrepreneurs
- Providing financial and technical support for business development
- Connecting participants with mentors and entrepreneurial networks
- Strengthening youth-led enterprise ecosystems across Africa
The application deadline for the 2026 cohort is 20 March 2026.
The MasterCard Foundation and several African innovation and entrepreneurship organisations collaborated to deliver the FAST initiative.
Key programme partners
The key programme partners include: CcHub Nigeria, MDF Global
Concree, Savannah Innovations Lab, Centre for Enterprising Organisations
Inkomoko and the African Leadership Academy. Together, these groups offer participating entrepreneurs technical assistance, business training, and mentoring.
Young African entrepreneurs, either running early-stage businesses or aspiring to be founders, are the target audience for this programme.
Alumni from the following programmes are eligible to apply:
- Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)
- African Leadership Academy (ALA)
- Anzisha Prize
- Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program
MasterCard Foundation may accept candidates who are still in school on a provisional basis, and upon graduation, they will join the subsequent cohort.
Depending on their business’s stage of development, FAST Program participants may be eligible for financial assistance.
Phases of entrepreneurial growth
Funding covers two major phases of entrepreneurial growth.
Idea Phase
The Idea Phase supports early-stage entrepreneurs as they refine and validate their business concepts. Funding support ranges from an average of USD $3,000 to a maximum of USD $5,000.
This stage focuses on idea validation, market research, and product or service concept development.
Build Phase
The Build Phase supports entrepreneurs who are prepared to scale their concepts into functional businesses.
Support for funding ranges from an average of USD $12,500 to a maximum of USD $15,000.
At this stage, participants focus on business model development, market expansion strategies, and operational growth and scaling.
Each enterprise’s needs and maturity level are considered when determining funding amounts. Not all participants will receive financial assistance.
Opportunities provided by FAST Program
The FAST Program offers a variety of opportunities for entrepreneurial development in addition to financial support.
Participants gain access to:
- Business development training
- Mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs
- Networking opportunities with African founders
- Enterprise development support
- Access to innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems
These tools support young entrepreneurs in developing sustainable businesses and enhancing their leadership skills.
The FAST Program places a high priority on equitable economic engagement throughout Africa. The programme seeks to provide opportunities for various youth demographics, such as: Young women entrepreneurs, Refugees and displaced individuals, and Young people living with disabilities
This inclusive approach ensures that entrepreneurship opportunities reach a larger, more diverse community of innovators.
Supported languages
For business owners in various geographical areas, the application and programme materials are available in multiple languages. Supported languages include English, French, Portuguese and Arabic.
This multilingual approach enables wider participation across Africa and the Middle East.
Focus areas
The Mastercard Foundation’s Education and Transitions focus area oversees the FAST Program.
The goal of this focus area is to assist youth in transitioning from school to employment, entrepreneurship, and sustainable livelihoods.
Through this programme, the foundation assists African youth in finding respectable and rewarding employment.