Deadline: 1st July 2024
Investing for Employment provides co-financing grants for investment projects with a high job creation impact. The Facility only finances mature projects that have not yet started and that offer reasonable chances for being operationally and financially sustainable. Applicants are obliged to contribute own funds to complete the project finance. They must also prove that they cannot cover their funding needs from other sources.
These next Calls for Proposals were launched on 15 May 2024. They seek applications for projects in Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, and Senegal. The Calls are open to all sectors of the economy. It is essential that each proposed investment project contributes to sustainable job creation in the private sector and that the jobs give access to comprehensive social benefits. Projects that contribute to the promotion of women’s employment or to the socially just transition to a climate-friendly economy have a better chance of receiving a grant.
What does the Facility Investing for Employment fund?
The Calls for Proposals are seeking applications for four types of investment projects:
Grants
The Facility awards grants to different types of projects, ranging from purely private sector projects to public infrastructure projects. The amount of the grant can vary from EUR 650,000 to EUR 5 million in Ghana, Rwanda, and Senegal, and from EUR 850,000 to EUR 6 million in Morocco.
An applicant (individual entity or consortium) must provide own financial contributions towards the overall project expenditure in the required proportion. The percentage of own contribution required is defined based on the project category. All jobs created as part of the projects must be in the private sector.
The grants are disbursed during the investment phase of the project and in accordance with achieved milestones
Eligibility
- Individual applicants (legal entities that are registered in the country of the proposed project, either Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, or Senegal, and that have been in operation for at least three years)
- Consortia (two or more legal entities, with at least one entity that is registered in the country of the proposed project and that has been in operation for at least three years)
Application Process
The Facility IFE selects projects through a competitive, objective, and transparent two-stage application process.
Stage one: The Call for Proposal invites applicants to submit Concept Notes. After an eligibility verification, Concept Notes are scored and the most promising are ranked based on both qualitative evaluation criteria and key performance indicators (KPIs), related to the number of good jobs created, improvement of working conditions for existing employees, additional benefits offered by applicants regarding social protection aspects above statuary requirements etc.
Stage two: The shortlisted applicants are informed to submit a detailed Full Project Proposal. The received Full Project Proposals are subject to a detailed analysis (due diligence), which may also involve an on-site visit. If IFE approves a project, it offers the applicant (individual entity or consortium) an agreement for the grant amount determined during the due diligence.
The Additionality Condition: The requested IFE grant needs to be essential for the implementation of the project. Therefore, the applicant must demonstrate that he has tried but failed in securing the full finance need.
For more information and application.