Call for projects for impact investors active in sub-Saharan Africa
SSNUP is launching a call for projects that aims to attract technical assistance (TA) projects from impact investors (asset managers) not part of the programme but active in strengthening the agricultural sectors in sub-Saharan Africa.
The TA projects should aim at strengthening the resilience of smallholder households, agricultural value chains, and the impact of the investments. They should also focus on food security and nutrition, improving climate change resilience, strengthening gender equality, and/or promoting agroecological transformation. A maximum of 2 projects per investor can be submitted.
SSNUP has allocated a total amount of € 500,000 to the initiative with each individual technical assistance project limited to € 50,000. Each project will benefit one investee of the impact investor, which can be an agri-SME or a farmer cooperative/organisation.
- Project proposal submission: the applicant downloads and completes the documents relating to the call for projects in English. The documents are then submitted in a zip folder/files via this form, before 23h59 (CET) 30/04/2024. (how to zip a folder/files).
- Selection: the SSNUP technical assistance committee will review the submitted projects.The applicant will then be informed of the results by email in early June.
- Contracting and financing: a contract will be signed between ADA (SSNUP coordinator) and the selected applicant. 80% of the SSNUP contribution to the technical assistance budget will be transferred upon signature. The remaining amount is transferred together with the 11% management fee at the end of the project, after the approval of the completion report.
- Implementation: the project must be launched before 31/12/2024 and have a maximum duration of 6 months.
- Reporting and closing: the Project Completion Report, which includes narrative information as well as data on the financials and KPIs, must be sent 2 months after the end of the project.
Contact : ssnup@ada-microfinance.lu
Only one beneficiary organisation can be included in each TA project application. Each project needs to have a clear specific objective.
A maximum of two TA projects per impact investor can be submitted.
Agri-SMEs and farmer cooperatives/organisations are eligible. Financial institutions and intermediaries are not eligible (see the Information Pack for more details).
There is no minimum amount applicable to this call for projects.
The maximum SSNUP contribution is EUR 50,000 per project. The investee contribution must be a minimum of 20% of the total budget of the project.
No, only new TA projects are eligible, and no retroactive reimbursement of TA projects started before approval will be possible.
No, the call for projects is only open to asset managers/impact investors.
The asset manager should demonstrate experience and/or willingness to offer TA. It is expected that the asset manager:
- is already staffed with at least one specialist experienced in TA or has identified at least one staff member who will be responsible for designing and managing the TA project;
- has the experience or has access to expertise to identify issues and relevant solutions related to a TA project;
- has defined or is ready to define operational procedures to manage TA project;
- is able to separate the investment activities from the TA activities in terms of accounting and decision-making (no need for the TA facility to be a legally separated entity).
This does not disqualify the beneficiary organisation if it is clearly stated in the proposal that it does also produce for local markets and that the project aims at supporting the production of local crops.
No, recurring costs are not covered. However, in some cases, like that of first certifications, initial costs can be co-financed if there is a clear path to sustainability.