Call for Proposals to support Entrepreneurship and MSMEs creation in Ethiopia

Deadline: 16-Feb-21

European Union (EU) has announced a call for proposals to support to entrepreneurship and micro-small and medium sized enterprises (MSMES) creation (business incubators in the agri-sector and hybrid agri-tech sector) in Ethiopia.

The global objective of this call for proposals is: to foster decent job creation and sustainable livelihoods in Ethiopia. The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals is: to improve market access and value chains in the agribusiness and hybrid agri-tech (tech-related start-ups providing services to the agri-sector) sectors, by supporting high potential start-ups with an innovative approach to addressing market needs.

The priority (ies) of this call for proposals is the development and implementation of ONE intervention framework addressing business incubation that can both unlock the potential of agri-business and deliver the necessary tools such that agro-entrepreneurs are supported through their entrepreneurial journey.

Components

The successful applicant will have to address and implement all the following FOUR components:

Incubator capacity development Programme;
Establishment of two new end-to-end agricultural value chain focused hybrid agribusiness/agri-tech incubators;
Pre-incubation, incubation and post-incubation financing facility;
Cross-cutting component- visibility, communication and substantive learning agenda.

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 5 million. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.

Size of grant

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

Minimum amount: EUR 2.5 million;
Maximum amount EUR 5 million.

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant(s)

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, public sector operator, local authority, international (inter-governmental) organisation as defined by Article 156 of the EU Financial Regulation;
Be established in Ethiopia, another ACP country, a Member State of the European Union or any other member countries of the OECD in case of contracts implemented in Least Developed Countries or Highly Indebted Countries, as included in the list of ODA recipient and
Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the coapplicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary

Co-applicant(s)

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.
Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.

Affiliated entity(ies)

The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity (ies).
Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to coapplicant(s):
- Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link.
- 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:
    - Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:
      - Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;
      - Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;
      - Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).
  - 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.