Startups

Funding Opportunities For African Businesses

  1. Energy Catalyst Round 9 – Early Stage

The Innovate UK is seeking applications for its Energy Catalyst Round 9 – Early State. The aim of this competition is to accelerate the innovations needed to create new or improved clean energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, South-Asia or Indo-Pacific regions. This will create a just and inclusive energy transition and extend the benefits of clean to all to meet sustainable development goals (SDGs) 7’Affordable and clean energy’ and 13’Climate action’.

Funding Information

  • Your project’s total costs must be between £50,000 and £300,000.
  • Start by 1 April 2023
  • End by 31 March, 2026
  • Last between 3 months and 12 months

Eligibility Criteria

Your project

Your project must:

  • Intend to use the results to help deliver clean energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, or the Indo-Pacific
  • Include a UK registered administrative lead
  • If you are an international organization, partner with a UK administrative lead
  • Involve at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) from anywhere in the world
  • You project can also involve organisations from any country.
  • You must only include eligible project costs in your application.

Lead Organisation

  • There are two types of leads in energy catalyst, an administrative lead, who will start the application and a technology lead.
  • An administrative lead is there to act as the recipient of the award and will distribute funding to all other partners. This is known as ‘hub and spoke’ model when there is an international partner in the consortium. The administrative lead will manage and be accountable for the finances of the project in accordance with the terms and conditions of the award.

For more information, visit

https://apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/1173/overview#summary

  1. Accés Culture Program

The French Development Agency and the French Institute are accepting applications for the Accés culture program to support and finance cultural projects in Africa with the aim of promoting social ties and strengthening collaborations between African and French cultural actors. The program is aimed at civil society organisations and cultural establishments of local authorities who will jointly carry out a project proposing to meet a local need in a dynamic of cultural mediation. The primary objective is to put culture at the service of social ties by developing cultural activities aimed at audiences furthest from the cultural offer for social, economic and geographical reasons.

Funding Information

  • The winning operators of the call for projects will receive funding of up to 15,000 euros for the implementation of their project in Africa.

Eligible Projects

  • Eligible projects feature cultural cooperation and are oriented around community arts outreach (awareness and arts education, initiation into a specific art medium, organization of artistic get-togethers, etc.)
  • The primary goal is to strengthen social ties in Africa by bringing the arts closer to individuals who would otherwise have limited access to such cultural exposure due to their socio, economic, cultural and/or geographic background or because of their gender or a disability.

For more information, visit

https://www.pro.institutfrancais.com/en/programmes-and-projects/acces-culture

  1. The Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Species Conservation Fund

 The Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ) Species Conservation Fund is now accepting applications to provide targeted grants to individual species conservation initiatives, recognize leaders in the field and elevate the importance of species in the broader conservation debate. Its focus is global and eligibility for grants will extend to all plant, animal and fungi species conservation efforts, without discrimination on the basis of region or selected species.

Funding Information

Grants will be awarded based on their ability to meet criteria pre-determined by the Species Fund, and are for maximum of $25,000 for each project.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Anyone directly involved in species conservation can apply to the Fund for a grant.
  • The Fund will consider grants for the conservation of any threatened or poorly known animal, plant or fungus species.
  • Depending on the type of conservation project and the work involved, the Fund will consider covering salary expenses or travel costs for a specific project. This would usually be for support staff in developing countries. However, this can only be as part of the overall grant as officially applied for. The Fund will not consider applications for grants which only cover salary or travel expenses.
  • The Fund intends to be as flexible and accommodating as possible when reviewing applications, and to take into account as many different factors as is reasonable when assessing the merit of a suggested project. To support this and to try to streamline the application process, the review process is kept comparatively simple.
  • Applications must be submitted in English.

For more information, visit

https://www.speciesconservation.org/grants/

  1. AFF Proposals to Support Four Pilot Projects in Africa

 The African Forest Forum (AFF) is inviting proposals to support a total of four pilot projects on different forest types in Africa for community-based organisations or national non-governmental organisations who are actively involved in activities related to forestry and climate change. For its annual plan of work for 2022, AFF plans to facilitate the implementation of four pilot projects that will promote adoption of:

  • Land use management policies and practices that explicitly incorporate forest biodiversity and ecosystem services as well as conservation needs that enable land users to maximise the economic, social and ecological benefits from land.
  • Viable alternative sources of livelihood that are compatible with containing forest cover loss in different forest types while simultaneously promoting economic and social empowerment of stakeholders, especially women and youth.
  • Gender sensitive forest-based measures and policies that improve the adaptation and resilience to adverse effects of climate change on forests and on people who depend on them.

Funding Information

A modest grant of up to USD 12,000 will be awarded to support the field activities of the pilot over a duration of two years.

Duration

The implementation of the pilot activities shall be for a period of 2-year duration from 21 July, 2022.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be a community-based or non-governmental organization registered in an African nation.
  • Proposed pilot project and activities must be clearly related to, and likely to advance forest protection, forest conservation, socio economic development and adaptation to climate change in Africa.
  • All application material must be complete and received by the AFF Secretariat on or before the application deadline.

For more information, visit

https://afforum.org/call-for-pilot-project-proposals-sustainable-land-management-for-livelihood-improvement-and-stability-of-ecosystems-in-the-context-of-changing-climate-in-africa/#.YoSFaRQQJeU.twitter

  1. BMGF Funding Opportunity: Global HPV Burden Study – Open Call for LOI

 The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has launched an open call to solicit Letters of Intents (LOIs) from organizations that could coordinate a multi-site study inclusive of approximately 6-8 countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa to gain a better understanding of HPV burden among girls and women in these regions. The primary aim of the study is to determine the burden of HPV infection among girls and women in LIC/LMICs to inform intervention implementation and prioritization of research and development efforts that have the greatest potential public health impacts.

Funding Information

  • The target budget is approximately $10,000,000 USD, inclusive of coordination costs, sub-grants to participating sites and collaborators, lab costs, and indirect costs.
  • They encourage applicants to be bold and creative in potential approaches with the anticipation of proposals shaping in close coordination with BMGF.

Submission Requirements

The LOI should be completed in the template that is provided when you select “apply”. The LOI should be in English, and should not exceed 4 pages in length. Any other supportive documents may be attached as an appendix, not counting against the LOI total, but are not guaranteed to be reviewed.

For more information, visit

https://submit.gatesfoundation.org/prog/global_hpv_burden_study/

  1. Darwin Initiative Main Grant Program (up to £600,000)

 The Darwin Initiative’s Main Grant Program is now open to deliver strong results for biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction based on good evidence, and strongly demonstrate to potential to scale. The Darwin Initiative will support an influence stakeholder to incorporate biodiversity considerations in achieving poverty reduction, through evidence and best practices, and targeting the outcome; Stakeholders, including local communities, governments, demonstrate sustained improvement in policy and practice that results in gains for biodiversity and reduced poverty.

Funding Information

Darwin Initiative Main invites applications for environmental projects between £100,000 and £600,000.

Criteria

  • Lead Partners can be based anywhere, but they strongly encourage projects to have in-country Lead Partners.
  • All projects are strongly expected to seek and work with in-country partners, with the meaningful and early engagement of in-country stakeholders.
  • All projects must consider how they will contribute to reducing inequality between genders, with activities expected to generate net benefits for women and girls.
  • Darwin Initiative is entirely Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded, and therefore projects must promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries as a primary objective, and the eligible countries projects will in practice be expected to be mostly focused on Low Income and Lower Middle-Income countries.

For more information, visit

https://www.darwininitiative.org.uk/apply/

  1. European Commission Peace Ambassador Scholarship

 Applications are now open for the One Young World Peace Ambassador Scholarship, delivered in partnership with the European Commission, aims to empower young people to build more cohesive and peaceful societies. Scholarship recipients will participate in the One Young World Summit 2022, which will see 2,000 young leaders from 190+ countries descend on Manchester for the global forum for young leaders. During the Summit, delegates will present and debate solutions to the time’s most pressing issues alongside senior leaders. Scholarship recipients will join a community of over 200 Peace Ambassadors who have participated in the programme since 2017. The 2022 Peace Ambassador Programme will have a focus on the role of disinformation in fueling hate speech, conflict and violent extremism.

Benefits

  • Participants’ voices will be amplified enabling them to shape the policies that affect them most.
  • Increased visibility of young leaders contributing to Peace and P/CVE in their communities.
  • Participants will foster dialogue around the key theme of peacebuilding.
  • Recipients will learn more about the European Union and its institutions and their role in promoting peace and fostering respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.

Peace Ambassadors will receive

  • Access to the One Young World Summit which takes place 5 – 8 September 2022 in Manchester, United Kingdom.
  • Roundtrip travel to Manchester and back to the country of origin.
  • Hotel accommodation for the duration of the Summit.
  • Catering which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner during the One Young World Summit.
  • Membership of the One Young World Ambassador Community.
  • Profiling in various media outlets.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Aged 18 – 30 by September.
  • Candidates need to be actively engaged in the fields of peace building, conflict resolution, tackling disinformation, or countering violent extremism.
  • Available to join the programme full time between 4 and 8 September 2022.
  • Nationals of countries considered to be ‘developing or emerging’ according to the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook and selected countries that are affected by conflict are eligible to apply.

For more information, visit

https://www.oneyoungworld.com/scholarships/ec-peace-ambassador/2022/apply

  1. PFAN Support Grants

PFAN is now accepting applications from projects and businesses in low and middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central, South and Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, Eastern Europe, Central America and the Caribbean Islands. Selected PFAN projects undergo intensive one-to-one coaching to perfect their business plans, financial structures and investment pitches. It also provides free business coaching and investor matchmaking to promising climate and clean energy entrepreneurs around the world.

Funding Information

  • The investment amount, or investment ask, should lie between US$1 million and US$50 million. This may be disbursed in smaller tranches as requested.
  • ONLY for energy access and rural electrification projects (clean cook stoves, solar homes systems, mini grids) an exception is made, and the investment ask can lie between US$500,000 and US$50 million. This too may be disbursed in smaller tranches as requested.

Eligible Projects

  • Projects and businesses which deploy clean and renewable energy and/or climate change technologies for productive uses;
  • Greenfield and brownfield utility projects, independent power producer and distributed generation projects (for both thermal and electrical energy);
  • Existing projects which are operating at small or pilot scale and which are ready for scale-up;
  • Projects which increase access to energy for remote communities, including rural electrification, off-grid and mini-grid projects, thermal energy and clean cooking solutions;
  • New or expanding business ventures in clean energy and related technologies, including downstream projects (focused on deployment of existing technologies) and upstream projects (focused on development and commercialization of a new clean technology);
  • Mergers, acquisitions or joint ventures, which will add value to an existing clean energy/technology business.

For more information, visit

https://pfan.net/eligibility-criteria/

  1. UN Women: Open Call for Advance Women’s Political Participation

 UN Women invites interested organizations to apply as partners for implementing gender-responsive legal frameworks/policies, enhancing the capacity of political parties and electoral bodies to develop gender-responsive policies that promote gender balance in political leadership positions, and strengthening the capacity of young women to participate in political activities. UN Women is offering grants to increase the participation of women in the electoral process of Ekiti State as candidates and voters. UN women in Nigeria is working to contribute to country-level efforts to boost women’s political participation, including through the reduction of electoral violence against women.

Funding Information & Duration

  • The budget range for this proposal should be 11-12 million Naira
  • The project implementation is expected to start as soon as possible upon signing of the Project Partner Cooperation Agreements (PCA) for a period up to 5 weeks. The Project will start on May 23, 2022 to June 30, 2022

For more information, visit

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/programme-implementation/2022/05/call-for-proposals-unw-wcaro-wpe-cfp-2022-001-voters-sensitization-education-monitoring-and-reporting-nigeria

  1. Idea Lab Incubator Program 2022 for Social Entrepreneurs

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (AMSE) is now accepting applications from aspiring social entrepreneurs worldwide for the first round of its Idea Lab incubator, a new program that extends the reach of the ASME Innovation Showcase (ISHOW) hardware accelerator platform. Idea Lab is open to individuals and teams who have identified a pressing social and/or environmental challenge they think could be addressed through a hardware-led innovation.

Benefits

  • An initial cohort of Idea Lab candidates will be engaged in the program for six to 18 months, depending on their stage of development, technical knowledge, and required mentorships.
  • They will receive a range of benefits, including guidance through the design process, expert mentorship and assessment, access to design services, design and engineering software/tools, and funding to cover prototyping expenses.
  • Candidates expect to spend an average of two to four hours per week split between flexible scheduled meetings and self-paced learning modules.
  • Mentors include industry professionals with expertise in research, design, engineering, business development, and more. Idea Lab candidates will work closely with Engineering for Change Fellows who will guide them through their technology development journey.

For more information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Idea Lab Incubator Program 2022

 

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