Summary
The African Development Bank Group’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative is launching its second call for proposals for the Women Entrepreneurship Enablers program, targeting women’s business associations, incubators, accelerators, women-led cooperatives, and civil society organizations that promote the development of women entrepreneurs on the continent.
The program supports projects that enhance the viability and sustainability of formal women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and enables them to access financing opportunities to grow their businesses.
Successful proposals will demonstrate innovative approaches to building a supportive ecosystem for women’s entrepreneurship, aimed at improving access to finance for women SMEs. Enablers are expected to develop a comprehensive and sustainable capacity-building program to enable access to finance in partnership with financial institutions.
Eligibility
- The projects should be implemented in more than 2 countries;
- The project duration should not exceed 2 (two) years;
- Recipients and project sponsors should be Africa-based or provide evidence of partnership with African entities and show that the proposed activities, operations, and projects will be implemented in Africa;
- Applicants must be legally constituted institutions that have been in existence for at least three years with strong financial and procurement procedures;
- Collaboration between two or several applicant enablers is encouraged;
- Partnerships are strongly encouraged particularly with one or multiple financial organizations and with both public and private sectors;
- Previous experience in managing external funding and executing projects from donors is required;
Benefits
The minimum threshold for requesting funding from this call for proposal is $100,000 and the maximum threshold is $250,000, which will be based on the following criteria;
- The projects should be implemented in more than 2 countries;
- The project duration should not exceed 2 (two) years;
- Recipients and project sponsors should be Africa-based or provide evidence of partnership with African entities and show that the proposed activities, operations, and projects will be implemented in Africa;
- Applicants must be legally constituted institutions that have been in existence for at least three years with strong financial and procurement procedures;
- Collaboration between two or several applicant enablers is encouraged;
- Partnerships are strongly encouraged particularly with one or multiple financial organizations and with both public and private sectors;
- Previous experience in managing external funding and executing projects from donors is required;
Selection process
- Clarity and Viability
- Track Record and Leverage
- Project Impact
- Monitoring-Evaluation-Scaling
How to apply
- Answer the preliminary questions
- Download and complete the Application proposal template (in Word format)
- Upload your Application proposal (maximum 10 pages) on the platform
- Submit your application through the platform
End date
25 November 2022
