The third call for proposals by the African Culture Fund (ACF), and dedicated to the Solidarity Fund for African Artists and Cultural Organizations (SOFACO), Batch No. 1: Special Covid-19/Artists was launched on May 23, 2020 and was closed on June 30, 2020.
The main objective of SOFACO is to strengthen the resilience of artists and cultural organizations through assistance for creation and reconstruction of the social fabric of the artistic sector in Africa facing the COVID-19 crisis.
At closing date, 638 duly completed applications had been registered, originating from 40 African countries and eight from Africans in the Diaspora.
The selection process was undertaken in three stages: the registration and examination of the applications leading to a clean registration file, the preselection by a reading committee, and the evaluation and the final selection by an autonomous and independent selection panel.
The panel, composed of: Dr Jean-Luc Gbati Sonhaye (Togo); Dr. Robert Nantchouang (Cameroon); and Massira Touré (Mali), met virtually on August 13 and 14, 2020 to proceed with the final selection and deliberation of the files.. They met on August 13 and 14, 2020 to proceed to the final selection.
At the end of the deliberations, 120 applications were selected, including at least one candidate in each of the 40 countries eligible for SOFACO funding. To these 120 candidates was added a 12-candidate waiting list. Applicants on the waiting list may potentially qualify for a grant if additional funds are available; or if some of the 120 beneficiaries are not able to fulfill the required administrative conditions within two weeks from the date of notification.
The African Culture Fund reserves the right to cancel the Grant Agreement with a beneficiary, or to withhold payment in full or in part, should the use of the fund not comply with the terms of the Grant Agreement.
The African Culture Fund wishes to reiterate its thanks to the donor artists, patrons and its partners, in particular DOEN Foundation, FORD Foundation and Open Society Foundation, as well as BICIM (Mali) and SONAVIE (Mali) for their support.