Welcome Onboard
The Umbrella Fund provides catalytic funding to local organizations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to deliver high-impact, data-driven solutions that strengthen systems and achieve measurable outcomes for underserved populations.
About the Umbrella Fund
Established in 2024, the Umbrella Fund is an initiative of Dev-Afrique Development Advisors, with catalytic funding and strategic guidance from the Gates Foundation. It accelerates systemic change through locally led interventions, supporting initiatives that harness data and innovation to address critical development challenges.
Our Core Principles
Catalyzing high-potential, scalable solutions
Empowering local leadership and ownership
Advancing data-driven, evidence-based decision-making
With centralized governance and oversight, the Fund supports interventions across sectors beginning with health, with the flexibility to respond to evolving needs over time.
Current Country Engagements
The Fund is currently active in:
Nigeria
Supporting curriculum institutionalization with institutions like NASRDA, Bayero University Kano, and University of Maiduguri
Developing subnational geospatial data systems in priority states including Anambra, Kano, and Niger
Democratic Republic of Congo
Supporting Kinshasa School of Public Health and provincial universities in sustainable training programs
Partnering with ANICNS for development of national geospatial data repository
Our Sub-Awardees
The Umbrella Fund in Numbers
Since its launch in late 2024, the Umbrella Fund has deployed its first intervention: strengthening geospatial data ecosystems to improve health service delivery in LMICs. This work has supported implementation across Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as a growing network of institutional collaborators and local partners.
Strengthening locally led implementation across two countries.
k+
Invested Across Active Interventions
$
Catalytic Grant Funding
$2M+
Committed to funding geospatial solutions that address health data gaps in Nigeria and DRC
Local Organizations
Funded and delivering geospatial solutions that strengthen national and subnational geospatial systems.
Impact to Date
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Investment Areas
Targeting critical ecosystems gaps, with solutions co-define by stakeholders.
Our First Intervention: Geospatial Interventions
Strengthening Geospatial Data Ecosystems
The Fund's inaugural intervention focuses on strengthening geospatial data ecosystems to improve public health service planning, delivery, and monitoring. This initiative builds on critical gaps and opportunities identified through Geospatial Value Pipeline assessments conducted in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2022.
Through this intervention, the Fund supports local organizations to address
four strategic investment areas:
Geospatial Capacity Strengthening: Embed validated geospatial and health data curricula within accredited academic and government institutions.
Integrated Data Governance: Creating coordinated national systems with governance frameworks to enhance data integration and accessibility.
Subnational Geospatial Infrastructure: Stand up states and district-level data systems, portals and repositories with local ownership.
National Geospatial Policy Operationalization: Translating policy frameworks into practical applications
While health is the initial focus, the geospatial foundation being built will enable broader applications across development sectors.
Explore Investment Areas
