Request for Proposals: EFInA COVID-19 Grant (Nigeria)

Deadline: 6-Jan-21

The EFInA is pleased to announce its tenth request for proposals (RFP 10) for the COVID-19 Grant that will focus on supporting solutions that can mitigate the far-reaching impact of COVID-19 on low-income individuals/households (defined as those earning N50,000 or less per month) and MSMEs in Nigeria.

The objective of the EFInA COVID-19 Grant is to support the scale of financial service-enabled solutions that enable immediate access to liquidity, healthcare and food.

Focus area: Financial service-enabled solutions that extend immediate access to liquidity, healthcare and food to low-income households/individuals and MSMEs following the emergence of COVID-19.  These solutions need to have the potential to be scaled out to multiple regions of Nigeria.

Thematic Areas

The thematic areas cut across the three most pressing needs of target demographic (defined as those earning N50,000 or less per month):

• Thematic Area 1: Access to Liquidity
  • Leveraging platforms and innovative models to facilitate electronic payments, enable income-earning opportunities, provide access to credit, and/or provide investment opportunities to low-income households and MSMEs.
• Thematic Area 2: Access to Healthcare
  • Developing innovative ways to leverage financial service-enabled solutions to drive access to healthcare to low-income households and individuals, including solutions that can open access for women and children.
• Thematic Area 3: Access to Food
  • Developing innovative ways to leverage financial service-enabled solutions to drive access to food for families in the low-income demographic.

Grant Details

• The duration of the COVID-19 Grant is a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 2 years
• The individual grant range is £50,000-500,000.
• Applicants must have, or partner with an organisation that has, a track record of success for providing digital financial services
• Applicants must provide a strong business case that demonstrates how the proposed solutions meet the immediate needs of the low-income population (defined as those earning N50,000 or less per month) and/or MSMEs
• Applicants must demonstrate the gender inclusivity of their product design and customer acquisition plans
• Applicants must indicate that they have the capacity to implement the proposed project and demonstrate impact within 6 months
• In addition to immediate impact, proposed solutions must have the potential for long term impact and sustainability

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible organisations are companies in Nigeria offering innovative financial service solutions (primary applicant or partner applicant)
• Applicants must be legally incorporated within Nigeria
• Applicants must have the capacity to implement the proposed project for the applied funding and evidence that the business is viable
• All proposals need to demonstrate a clear path between EFInA grant funding and the proposed impact. All solutions proposed must be scalable.
• All solutions proposed should show a clear path to sustainability following the completion of the grant project
• N.B.: Applicants may be requested to provide guarantors to provide a formal assurance that all project conditions agreed by EFInA and the applicant will be fulfilled

For more information, visit https://www.efina.org.ng/media-room/efina-covid-grant-request-for-proposals/