The African Union Development Agency, AUDA-NEPAD collaborated with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) with funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) announce this Call for Digital Solutions for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
ABOUT US
We are an MSME support programme within the Economic Integration division of AUDA-NEPAD supported by GIZ Green Infrastructure Corridor for Intra-Africa Trade (PIDA). We focus on developing MSMEs in the green infrastructure and trade domains. Over the past two years we have launched a COVID- 19 Call for proposals, through which we supported four MSMEs. This programme is part of AUDA-NEPAD’s umbrella programme 100,000 MSMEs 100,000 MSMEs.
OUR PAST SUCCESS
In 2021, the COVID- 19 Call for proposals supported MSMEs in renewable energy and food security, water and sanitation, renewable energy and environmental management, and tourism were selected. Following our interventions, over USD500,000 in financial support were obtained.
“It takes a whole village to raise a child. And we consider GIZ to be that village elder that supported us with consistent advice and top-notch technical assistance. As a laureate of the AUDA-NEPAD Call for Proposals, COVID 19: Economic recovery through infrastructure service delivery, we are proud of this ongoing support.”
“The technical assistance… was an immersive experience; one that led me to understand and view our business through a different lens. Our business case and financial model were realistically portrayed and properly adjusted, showing us the possibility of running a profitable operation at a smaller scale while making our contribution to the environment and the communities affected by the invasive water hyacinth. [It] felt overwhelming at the beginning, but the team I worked with was accommodating, making the whole experience feel like cycling on training wheels. [The] team reach[ed] out to potential funders and stakeholders on our behalf, some of who we are still in active engagement. I now feel ready to propel this enterprise to the next level, as this assistance has equipped Aquaethanol Technologies with the requisite tools.”
Investment readiness support
- Business plan development
- Financial modelling
- Market research
- Investor pitch support and coaching
- Finance mobilisation
Project-specific advisory
- Contracting / legal support
- Compliance / quality management
- B2B matchmaking
- Regulatory, procurement and trade
- Digitalisation support (e.g., data centre migration
Capacity building*
- Business plan development
- Financial modelling
- Various topics, based on identified MSME needs
SELECTED PROJECTS:
Cool Lion
Cool Lion provides sustainable, cold chain solutions through the fabrication and sale of affordable, solar-powered refrigerator containers for social impact. The main target markets are fishing and horticultural goods sellers. To service these markets, Cool Lion offers a range of different technical configurations for their containers according to the needs of the individual customers.
Tripesa
Tripesa digitalizes and automates the tourism and hospitality business value chain in Africa by designing Payments Business Process Management systems. The systems are tailored designed to suit the sector that will enable SME growth. Tripesa offers digitalized solutions such as website development for online stores to help users distribute and sell their tourism experiences and products.
Water Compass
Water Compass uses renewable energy, technology, and efficient management to provide reliable and affordable access to clean water for rural communities in Uganda. This is achieved by building, operating, and maintaining solar powered water supply systems with the communities.
Aquaethanol Technologies
Aquaethanol Technology develops clean and affordable cooking fuel solutions by harnessing the invasive water hyacinth weed found in the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria in Kenya. Aquaethanol Technologies produces bioethanol and biobriquettes, targeting primarily the residential sector but also other commercial customers e.g. hotels and caterers in the region.
This year, we are going bigger and expanding our support to include more MSMEs. The focus is on digital solutions for green infrastructure and.
OUR OFFER TO YOU
This is not financial support. You will not receive any funding directly from us.
We are looking for 10 MSMEs. Successful applicants will work closely with our team to design and deliver a customized program to be carried out in 2023 to support your company’s specific growth needs across three key areas:
| Investment readiness support | Project-specific advisory | Capacity building* |
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- Assistance in mobilization of capital – Assisting to prepare business plans and financial modelling and investor pitches to secure credit/debt, start-up capital, working and short-term capital and long-term capital
- Technical advice – Inputs regarding financial modelling, strategy, contract structuring and specialist technical requirements
- Regulatory, procurement and trade – Assisting you to understand and navigate the relevant compliance standards for procurement (e.g., for government procurement), industry-specific regulations and (cross-border) trade
- Access to market / revenue opportunities – Where possible, we will link you to revenue (e.g., projects under construction) opportunities and assist you to prepare to participate in these
- Capacity Building – You will have several opportunities to expand your skills with a range of training options
CAPACITY BUILDING TIERS
Tier 1 (mandatory for all applicants)
All applicants get access to online capacity building platform with modules on basic business concepts.
Tier 2*
Shortlisted candidates get training on business strategy, business development, digital marketing, financial planning and investor pitch before pitching to evaluation committee.
Tier 3 (winners only)
Live (online) interactive small group trainings on select subjects. One-on-one mentoring and full TA support.
OUR OFFER TO YOU
The CBN Call for Proposals Covid-19: Economic Recovery Through Infrastructure Service Delivery is supported by GIZ, implementing on behalf of BMZ as part of an ongoing and strategic partnership between AUDA-NEPAD and the Federal Republic of Germany.
To have your application considered, your will have to meet the following criteria:
| At least early-stage business
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• Be registered as a for-profit entity. Non-profit organisations (NPOs) / non-governmental organisations (NGOs) / non-profit company (NPCs) need not apply.
• Must have a team of at least 3 employees • Proof of concept must have been established either by the MSME’s pilot or by similar, pre-existing projects elsewhere |
| You focus on trade and/or green infrastructure
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• Business must have at least one of the two below:
• The solution must have a demonstrable climate change adaptation (increasing resilience) OR mitigation (reducing GHG emissions) impact; OR a beneficial environmental impact (e.g., clearing invasive species, reducing plastic waste, repurposing hazardous waste) OR must have a demonstrable impact on trade. • The business must be able to demonstrate its impact on trade and/or trade-related activities esp. across national border (within a country is acceptable) |
| You must be African | • Be based in (registered and paying taxes) an African Union member state
• The business must be Africa-focused i.e., it has its largest market (>75% turnover) and employment base (>75% of personnel) in Africa |
APPLICATION
Before you apply, please take note of the following:
- All eligible applications will be reviewed. While we endeavour to contact both successful and unsuccessful applicants with the outcome of their applications, we cannot guarantee this. Keep an eye on our social media (and this website) for updates.
- Shortlisted applicants will progress to a 5-day virtual training session. We expect this training to take place sometime between 7-25 November 2022.
- At the end of this training session, applicants will be invited to the Pitch and Polish
- Applicants will present their company’s proposal to our evaluation committee. We expect these to take place between 21 November – 09 December 2022.
- The evaluation committee will select the final applicants that will receive the tailored technical assistance. We expect to announce winners by 16 December 2022.
Please note, that at any point in the above process, we may request that you submit additional information. This may include, but isn’t limited to, providing references of investors and customers and additional high-level information on their finances. Final decision-making will happen in December 2022 (TBC). The technical support will definition and delivery will occur from January 2023 for a period of between 3 and 12 months depending on the MSME’s requirements.
For questions, please submit your queries on the section Ask us section at:
SUPPORTED BY
The CBN Call for Proposals Covid-19: Economic Recovery Through Infrastructure Service Delivery is supported by GIZ, implementing on behalf of BMZ as part of an ongoing and strategic partnership between AUDA-NEPAD and the Federal Republic of Germany.
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