SADC RENEWABLE ENERGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUPPORT FACILITY 2023 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS (WITH FOCUS ON WOMEN AND YOUTH-LED ENTERPRISES) 

The 2023 Call for Applications is now open until 13 November 2022

In the SADC[1] and Indian Ocean region[2], renewable energy entrepreneurs are at the forefront of efforts to extend access to modern energy services as they are often the best placed to offer tailor-made local solutions. Such entrepreneurs, however, face serious challenges including those related to business management and operations, as well as bringing their innovative ideas to fruition.

To overcome some of these challenges and strengthen the capacity of SADC-based renewable energy entrepreneurs, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE) established the Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship (Technical) Support Facility (ESF) in SADC Region in April 2017.

The Facility serves as a technical support and mentorship platform to address some of the challenges experienced by the entrepreneurs, specifically, to enhance and strengthen the capacity of small-to-medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in assessing the business potential of sustainable energy, developing viable business plans and funding requests, managing and maintaining their businesses successfully. Furthermore, the Facility also aims to increase the confidence of financial institutions in sustainable energy systems and create linkages between the entrepreneurs and financial institutions.

Since its establishment in 2017, the Technical Facility has successfully trained 109 entrepreneurs in four (4) cohorts (32 in Cohort 1, 33 in Cohort 2, 22 in Cohort 3, and 22 in Cohort 4). The participants greatly benefited from the Facility’ training, mentorship and networking activities. The Facility has gained a lot of traction and interest from the SMEs and stakeholders regionally and internationally. However, enterprises from Indian Ocean islands as well as those that are women-led or managed have been underrepresented.

The Facility has now managed to secure additional grant support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) under the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) to scale its implementation, with particular focus on women and youth-led enterprises. With additional funding from IRENA, the Facility has expanded to include participation from Indian Ocean islands.

The Call

Enterprises, especially women/youths-led or women/youth-managed, from SADC Member States and the Indian Ocean States, are invited to submit their applications for technical support in the following two (2) areas:

1. Refining renewable energy project proposals in order to reach bankability.
2. Enterprise development through the Facility’s training.

Please note that this is a Technical Support Facility and selected entrepreneurs will be sponsored to participate in the training workshops. The training will be held virtually. However, sponsorship will cover the transportation and accommodation costs should the training be conducted physically. The Facility does not provide capital funding but facilitates enterprise financing through matchmaking and linking entrepreneurs with potential funders.

The applications[3] will go through a selection process and successful applicants will be contacted.

Submission: Please submit your applications using the Application Form Template to; energy@sacreee.org. Only electronic submissions using the Application Template will be considered.

Please indicate the language of training you prefer for the training from the three (3): English, French or Portuguese.

Deadline: Sunday, 13 November 2022 at 23:59 Central African Time (CAT)

The Application Form Template can be downloaded below.