Grants to support Self-Employment Business Incubator (Replication Phase 2)

Deadline: 18-Dec-23

The Open Society Foundation for Albania (OSFA), in cooperation with the Social Action and Innovation Centre (Kentro Merimnas Oikogeneias kai Pai Diou (KMOP) and the Municipality of Tirana (MoT) is implementing the three-year project titled: “Inclusive EduJobs – Towards Context Relevant Policies and Services Enhancing Employability and Educational Outcomes of Roma and Egyptians in Albania”.

The aim of the project is to improve the inclusion of women and men, boys and girls from Roma and Egyptian communities in Albania by strengthening the capacities of the municipalities to establish and deliver inclusive services to citizens in the area of employment and inclusive education. In the area of employment, the project will directly contribute by fostering self-employment and employments schemes, social businesses and farming, creating new jobs for Roma and Egyptians at the local level.

Objectives

The global objective of this call for proposals is increasing and improving employment opportunities for R/E individuals with the aim of becoming entrepreneurs through the assistance provided by the self-employment “Business Incubator” in two municipalities (Vlora and Shkodra) in line with the self-employment governmental program implemented by NAES/MoFE.
The specific objective(s) of this call for proposals is/are:
- Managing the self-employment “Business Incubator” in two municipalities, Vlora and Shkodra for R/E communities in line with the self-employment governmental program.
- Identify R/E community potential entrepreneurs and market opportunities to match their entrepreneurial profile.
- Design and deliver demand driven self-employment intervention to ensure R/E individuals self-employment through microenterprise development in the identified market opportunities.
- Ensure R/E community entrepreneurs’ readiness to prepare applications for the selfemployment government program.
- Increase R/E community entrepreneurs’ technical and soft skills in setting up, managing, and expanding a micro-enterprise.
- Improve the employability of R/E community graduates from vocational schools, R/E who run informal businesses, and women.

Sectors or Themes

Self-employment

Priorities

Provide a Business Incubator model for R/E entrepreneurs in two municipalities (Vlora and Shkodra) focused on selection and recruitment process, hands on incubation procedures, sustainable exit strategy;
Interventions focused in identifying R/E individuals who can undertake entrepreneurship including those currently self-employed in the informal sector; vocational school graduates or students close to graduation and unemployed interested in becoming self-employed;
Interventions increasing capacities of R/E entrepreneurs to apply for start-up subgrants and be successful at this initiative;
Interventions increasing capacities of R/E entrepreneurs to manage small individual sub-grants and to operate a formal micro enterprise.

Funding Information

The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 74 000. The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.
- Minimum amount: EUR 37,000
- Maximum amount: EUR 37,000

Duration

The initial planned duration of an action may not be:
- lower than 12 months nor exceed 12 months

Expected Results per municipality (Vlora and Shkodra)

At minimum 10 of the Roma and Egyptians that succeed to receive government funding to establish businesses are provided with matching funds/seed funding.
At minimum 5 Roma and Egyptians trained to access only government funding.
Increased capacities of Roma and Egyptians entrepreneurs to manage a business.
Note: The final beneficiaries are specified per municipality.

Performance Indicators per municipality (Vlora and Shkodra)

Number of R/E community individuals identified with marketable business ideas;
Number of R/E entrepreneurs applying for the national self-employment incentive program;
Number of R/E entrepreneurs receiving grants from the national self-employment incentive program;
Number of new R/E firms/micro enterprises:
- Number of new formal R/E firms/micro enterprises established from individuals previously self-employed in the informal sector;
- Number of new formal R/E firms/micro enterprises established by previously employed individuals interested in self-employment.
- Number of new formal R/E firms/micro enterprises established by previously unemployed R/E individuals interested in self-employment.
- Number of new formal R/E firms/micro enterprises established from R/E vocational school graduates or students close to graduation interested in becoming self-employed;
- Number of new formal R/E firms/micro enterprises led by women;
Total number of R/E self-employed and employed in the micro enterprises (gender disaggregated).
Average monthly turnover of new R/E firms/ micro enterprises.
Note: The performance indicators are specified per municipality.

Activities

Type of activities suggested – non exhaustive:
- Prepare a Business Incubator model for Roma and Egyptians entrepreneurs following the key entrepreneurial phases:
  - selection and recruitment
  - incubation;
  - validation on the initial business idea and
  - assistance for the implementation of the business idea;
- Develop criteria for targeting potential Roma and Egyptian entrepreneurs;
- Assess, select and prepare list of beneficiaries based on their profiles and initial business idea, for the selected microenterprise;
- Facilitate micro-entrepreneurs’ access to grants from the self-employment incentives program, managed and regulated by the National Agency for Employment and Skills (NAES), as capital support for starting their businesses (including administrative assistance, funding support and capacity building in business plan development).
- Establish and execute a fund-matching mechanism within the sub-grant budget provided by this call supporting entrepreneurs who receive grants through the self-employment incentives program. The fund-matching mechanism will fund crucial costs not covered by NAES self-employment grant.

Location

Actions proposed by the applicant must be implemented exclusively in one of the following municipalities: Vlora and Shkodra. Actions that aim to be implemented in more than one of the municipalities will not be accepted.

Eligibility Criteria

Lead applicant(s)
- In order to be eligible for a sub-grant, the lead applicant must:
  - be a non-governmental organization, civil society organization legally registered and operating in the territory of Albania;
  - be non-profit making;
  - be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) (if any), not acting as an intermediary;
  - have previous experience (during the last three years) in implementing grants (at least one) targeting Roma and Egyptians.
Co-applicant(s)
- Co-applicants must 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-applicant(s) must satisfy the eligibility criteria as applicable to the lead applicant himself;
- 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-applicant(s) are not required to have direct experience with R/E community.
- Co-applicants must sign the Mandate Form.

For more information, visit Open Society Foundation for Albania.