Call for Proposals: Switch Kenya Green

Deadline: 29-May-25

The European Commission is accepting proposals for Switch Kenya Green to develop sustainable and circular businesses through fostering access to finance and improving businesses’ sustainability and performance leading to sustainment and creation of green jobs.

Focus Areas

• This call for proposals focuses on the following value chains:
  • Plastic packaging (including plastic pollution impacting the ocean’s health and the sustainability of coastal communities)
  • Organic waste (including food waste)
  • Transport and mobility
  • Textiles
  • Electronics and ICT
  • Construction and buildings

Objectives 

• The specific objectives of this call for proposals are to achieve:
  • Improved business, managerial and technical capacities (including in green, circular, sustainable and inclusive economy) of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), out of which at least 40% benefit gender equality by complying with the 2XChallenge criteria.
  • Increased access to finance for selected MSMEs promoting eco-innovation and social inclusion.

Priorities

• The priorities of this call for proposals are:
  • To foster circular economy investments/entrepreneurship promoting (inter alia) good practices, new technologies R&D and standards;
  • To increase technical and financial competencies of targeted groups with a focus on innovative, sustainable and inclusive business models;
  • To stimulate collaboration among circular economy value chain actors, foster market links and expand supply and demand for circular products. This may entail engaging stakeholders with similar pipelines and enforce synergies and multiplier effects;
  • To promote knowledge generation, awareness raising and evidence-based advocacy at public and private sector levels to enhance and promote circular economy value chains.

Funding Information

• Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:
  • minimum amount: EUR 5 000 000
  • maximum amount: EUR 5 000 000

Target Group

• The final beneficiaries of SWITCH Kenya GREEN to be targeted by the applicants to this call for proposals are Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The intention is to support a large number of MSMEs; hence the latter are to be reached through business intermediary organisations (target groups).
• In Kenya, the official term for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is defined by the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) Act, 2012 and is further elaborated by the National Micro and Small Enterprises Policy, 2012. According to the Micro and Small Enterprises Act, the classification is as follows:
  • Micro Enterprises: Businesses employing less than 10 people, b) whose annual turnover does not exceed KES 500,000.
  • Small Enterprises: Businesses employing between 10 and 49 people, b) whose annual turnover ranges between KES 500,000 and KES 5 million.
  • Medium Enterprises: Businesses employing between 50 and 99 people, b) whose annual turnover ranges between KES 5 million and KES 50 million.

Eligibility Criteria

• There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:
  • Lead applicant
    • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
      • be a legal person,
      • be non-profit-making,
      • be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, community based Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), local authorities (e.g. municipalities) and business support organisations such as chamber of commerce, industry associations, trade federations, MSME cooperative organisations . International public-sector organisations set up by international agreements, specialized agencies set up by such organisations and other organisations assimilated to such international organisations are eligible under this call for proposals,
      • be effectively established in a Member State of the European Union, or in countries as stipulated in the basic act NDICI-Global Europe (see PRAG Annex A2a1). Due to the legal status of international organisations, the obligation of effective establishment in the referred countries does not apply to international organisations, where the latter are eligible,
      • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entities, not acting as an intermediary,
      • have demonstrable previous experience of work with at least one of the priority circular economy value chains, and expertise in capacity building and access to finance facilitation.
  • Co-applicants
    • Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.
    • Co-applicants must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself.
    • Academic institutions, research institutions and think tanks.
  • Affiliated entities
    • The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entities.
    • This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
      • Control, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:
      • Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association) as the proposed affiliated entities.

For more information, visit EC.