The New Field Foundation is one of the few foundations supporting organizations in French Speaking Africa. They also send out a resource bulletin with useful information (in both English and French). I wanted to share with one with you and encourage you to check out the New Field Foundation to learn more about their work.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is inviting indigenous peoples’ organizations and communities, and organizations that work with them, to apply for grants that fund projects and partnerships to promote the development of indigenous peoples and their unique cultural identity.

Grants ranging from US$20,000 to US$50,000 will be awarded to applicants from IFAD’s developing Member States through the Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF). Member states include, but are not limited to: Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

You can find more information on application requirements and an application form in English at http://www.ifad.org/english/indigenous/grants/index.htm

The closing date for applications is August 31, 2011.

This report should put to rest the notion that technology development is not happening on the African continent.  It is published by one of the best sources on what is happening in technology in Africa,  Balancing Act. “Mobile apps for Africa: Strategies to make sense of free and paid apps” provides information on the growing apps market in Africa that will  an  help African mobile operators and other stakeholders to decide what strategy is best to adopt regarding mobile apps.

The 131 pages report  contains 15 illustrated boxes, 26 tables, 39 charts and 2 maps. It is divided into three distinctive parts: Part 1: The users, the device and the usage; Part 2: The developers and the content; Part 3: Distribution platforms and distribution strategies.

If you are interested in technology in Africa, it is a report you really should read.