AECF REACT R3 COMPETITION
Eligibility Criteria
You must meet all of the following criteria for your application to be considered:
Your company is a private for - profit company, partnership or sole trader.
The total funds requested from the AECF must be at least US$ 250,000 and no more than US$1,500,000
Your company (including 3rd parties such as co-investors or banks and other lenders) is providing matching funds of at least 50% of the total cost of the business idea i.e. at least as much as the funds requested from the AECF
The funding request is for a specific , new and innovative business idea in renewable energy, adaptation to climate technologies and financial service
s and solutions in support of these, or a combination of the above
The business idea will be implemented in any one or more of the East African Community
countries: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda
You must demonstrate that the project will have a development impact in rural areas of the countries concerned, that the project will contribute to environmental sustainability, including environmental and climate change aspects.
Your company must demonstrate "additionality" i.e. that the project would not go ahead without AECF funding or that, if it would go ahead anyway, it would be at a much reduced pace or scale. All these eligibility criteria are contained in the application form.
The following points are also important for your application:
(1) New businesses (start-ups) may be considered by REACT R3. However, the businesses must provide strong evidence that the new company has credible and experienced investors and demonstrable capacity to implement the project.
(2) Your company may partner with other organizations, including NGOs and Community organizations. However it is a condition that the lead applicant and implementer of the business idea must always be a commercial company/business. Partnerships, cooperatives and sole traders are also eligible.
(3) The AECF aims to achieve significant leverage on its funds. Applications where companies provide a higher percentage (>50%) of total project funding from their own resources (including 3rd party investments or loans) will, all other things being equal, be treated more favourably. Applications where the greater proportion of funds requested as repayable grant rather than grant will similarly be treated more favourably.