Opportunity Information: Apply for 720660BAA1800001
USAID/DRC Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) 720660BAA1800001 is a competitive, discretionary opportunity focused on eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the long-running problem of minerals helping finance armed groups, which in turn fuels insecurity and instability. Rather than prescribing a single, fixed project design up front, USAID is using a Broad Agency Announcement to attract organizations that are willing to collaborate with USAID and other stakeholders through a structured co-creation and co-design process. The overall aim is to develop research and development (R and D) interventions that can break or weaken the conflict-minerals link while also improving economic resilience for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) communities, with a particular emphasis on gold supply chains.
A central feature of the BAA is the expectation that solutions should be innovative and driven by the private sector, with a strong preference for approaches that are scalable, transparent, sustainable, and capable of increasing exports of conflict-free minerals. In practical terms, this points to interventions that can be adopted and expanded beyond a single pilot site, that can be verified or tracked in a credible way, and that can continue functioning after USAID support ends because they make business sense for supply-chain actors. USAID highlights gold specifically, signaling that the agency wants to refine and accelerate adoption of workable models at gold mine sites where informality, smuggling, and opaque trading networks can make conflict financing harder to detect and disrupt.
Another core objective is reducing the vulnerability of ASM miners and the communities around mine sites to conflict by strengthening resilience through enhanced economic activity. This framing suggests USAID is looking for concepts that go beyond technical traceability alone and address the economic conditions that leave miners and local economies exposed to coercion, predation, or manipulation by armed actors. While the announcement does not list specific required activities in the text provided, the direction is clear: proposals should connect improved conflict-free supply chain performance with tangible, local economic benefits that help communities withstand shocks and reduce incentives or pressure to participate in illicit or conflict-linked mineral flows.
The mechanism is designed to maximize collaboration and speed by using co-creation to develop stronger partnerships more efficiently in time and resources. USAID indicates it will invite selected parties into a co-creation process to develop solutions responding to the BAA's problem and challenge statements (referenced as being in Section II of the full announcement). The pool of potential partners is broad: public and private entities, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, universities, public international organizations, NGOs, U.S. and non-U.S. government entities, and multilateral or international donor organizations. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning the opportunity is not narrowly limited to a small class of applicants, and it encourages participation from varied actors across the responsible sourcing ecosystem.
Co-investment is emphasized as a defining expectation. USAID is explicitly trying to align its goals with partners willing to share responsibility and risk and to bring their own resources to the table. Importantly, the BAA frames co-investment broadly: it can include cash as well as non-cash contributions such as in-kind support, technical expertise, intellectual property, brand value, high-value coordination, and access to key networks, sites, people, or information. USAID also clarifies that it is not demanding a strict one-to-one match; instead, contributions should be appropriate to the project objectives and reflect each partner's comparative advantage. This structure is meant to attract firms and organizations that can materially influence supply chains and systems, not just implement activities funded entirely by USAID.
From a process standpoint, USAID asks interested parties to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) following instructions contained in the referenced attachments (USAIDDRCBAA-RMT 12.26.2017 and Annex 1 US mineral strategy). The original closing date listed is February 12, 2018. The listing does not specify a maximum award amount (award ceiling is shown as 0) or the number of expected awards in the source fields, which typically signals that awards and funding levels would be determined later through the BAA co-creation, negotiation, and final instrument selection process rather than being locked in at the notice stage.
In short, this BAA is best understood as an invitation to help USAID design and launch practical, market-oriented solutions that make conflict-free mineral trade (especially gold) more viable and more widespread in eastern DRC, while simultaneously strengthening the economic resilience of ASM miners and communities so they are less exposed to conflict dynamics. The opportunity favors partners who can bring real leverage, credibility, and resources to a shared effort, and who are prepared to collaboratively develop and test approaches that can scale and endure.Apply for 720660BAA1800001
- The Agency for International Development in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "USAID/DRC Broad Agency Announcement: Establishing Conflict Free Supply Chains in Eastern DRC and Reducing the Vulnerability of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Communities to Conflict" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2017-12-26.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-02-12. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.
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