Deadline: 31-Mar-21
The West Africa Trade and Investment Hub Activity (herein referred to as “the Trade Hub”) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is accepting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from eligible applicants to fund a program entitled COVID-19 Rapid Response in Nigeria.
The purpose of the Trade Hub activity is to promote and expand employment, trade, and investment opportunities both within the West Africa sub-region and international markets. This APS focuses specifically on advancing this purpose in Nigeria within the context of Covid-19.
The USAID-funded Trade Hub activity is a five-year trade and investment facilitation intervention that seeks to improve private sector productivity, profitability, and competitiveness in West Africa.
By co-investing with the private sector and other organizations through its grant fund, the Trade Hub will encourage additional private sector investment and growth in strategic sectors including but not limited to: agriculture, services, water/sanitation, clean renewable energy, and light manufacturing.
A current priority of the Trade Hub is supporting West African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19)—a public health crisis projected to have the largest economic impact since the Great Depression.
Objectives
The Trade Hub’s primary objectives for its Covid-19 response in Nigeria are to:
- Ensure access to finance during the Covid-19 crisis;
- Retain employment during the Covid-19 crisis;
- Leverage the private-sector in the response to Covid-19.
Funding Information
- Subject to the availability of funds, the total estimated amount of funding available is USD14,400,000. The total value of each award is estimated to range from USD250,000 to USD1,000,000.
Applicants must propose activities and solutions that:
- Respond to at least one of the above three objectives;
- Help mitigate the economic and financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic;
- Practically and rapidly implement solutions to preserve continuity of operations;
- Offer a co-investment fund of at least 1:1 using private funding. (Note: Co-investments with an up to 5:1 leverage ratio or higher are preferred);
- Seek grant funding between $250,000 and $1,000,000 for projects that are preferably implemented during a 12-month period as an effort to quickly curb the effect of Covid-19.
Eligible Applicants
To be eligible for award under this opportunity, an applicant must demonstrate that it falls into one of the grantee categories below:
- Private Sector Companies: Both local and international firms.
- Foreign Organizations (referred to as non-U.S. NGOs): Either nonprofit or for-profit organizations that meet the definition in 2 CFR 200.47.
- Non-profit Organizations: Organizations that meet the definition of 2 CFR 200.70.
- For-Profit Organizations.
- Government entities are not eligible to apply.
Additional Information
- Monitoring requirement: Potential grantees will be required to detail how they will monitor the impact of their proposed activity, notably the resources that will be required to ensure a high standard of data is being recorded and reported based on set indicators in adherence to the Trade Hub’s Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan.
- Gender: Activities under the Trade Hub seek to reduce gender disparities in access to and benefits from investments. To that end, potential applicants will be expected to outline how their activities will increase access to technologies to improve production, expand access to and enhance women’s skills and access to better paid opportunities. Applicants who demonstrate the potential for large scale impacts on women will be prioritized. If selected to submit a full application, applicants will be expected to participate in a training that the activity will provide on gender and work with Trade Hub designated staff in the co-creation phase to ensure gender is adequately addressed in the proposal.
- Youth: In addition to promoting gender equality, the Trade Hub also strongly promotes integrating a growing youth population within the workforce (age 15 to 29). Applicants should describe how youth will benefit from the grant and serve as agents for sustained business growth. Applicants that include elements to promote vocational training and internship programs, offer technical training to facilitate youth integration, and/or target private-sector investment to meet workforce demand of the youth will be prioritized.
- Environmental considerations: All activities implemented under the Trade Hub must adhere to 22 CFR 216 on environmental compliance.
For more information, visit https://westafricatradehub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/APS-WATIH-954_Covid-19-Response_Nigeria-1.pdf
