The Africa Catalytic Growth Fund (ACGF) is a flexible instrument that targets countries and opportunities that are under-funded by the current aid allocation system. The Fund is available to eligible African countries or regional organizations seeking to eliminate constraints to growth, tackle hard to reach Millennium Development Goals and achieve regional integration through results oriented investment operations. Eligible organizations include international or regional organizations whose members are also members of IBRD and IDA, and entities that are recipients of Bank loans, credits, or grants. The ACGF does not directly provide grants to individuals, the private sector, interest or research groups.

The Fund is designed to provide flexible, targeted support to three categories of recipients: high performing economies that can achieve accelerated growth and serve as regional models (eg. Ghana, Mozambique); transformation economies that can demonstrate recent and sustained commitment to reform based on strong leadership (eg. Sierra Leone, Malawi, Madagascar, Guinea, Mauritania, Rwanda) and regional integration initiatives that can address multi-country public goods or boost competitiveness (IGAD). Each has a set of criteria that must be met for country eligibility. In addition, each ACGF proposal must be clear on the results that the proposed operation will achieve, how the ACGF will help at a critical point in time - as a catalyst to growth or the MDGs - and how the ACGF is helping to leverage additional development financing to scale up impacts.

All proposals are prepared by World Bank staff in consultation with government counterparts, and if approved, projects are then prepared by the grant recipient (government or regional organization) with the help of the Bank.

Governments and regional organizations interested in ACGF funding should contact the relevant World Bank Country Office for assistance.