ROGEAP – Entrepreneurship support mechanism: A call for expressions of interest to pre-select OGS entrepreneurs and SMEs
The official launch of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) took place in Praia on October 12 and 13, 2023, at the opening of the 2023 ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Forum (ESEF).
ROGEAP aims to increase access to sustainable electricity services in the fifteen ECOWAS member countries and in Cameroon, Chad, Mauritania and the Central African Republic. ROGEAP aims to : (i) build a regional market for off-grid solar products (OGS), (ii) support players in the value chain, and (iii) promote environmental, social and gender risk management for OGS products.
A Project Fund Manager (PFM) has been recruited to support ECOWAS in the implementation of Component 1 by providing technical assistance on the Entrepreneurship Support Facility (ESF) and the Financial Support Facility (FSF). The PFM will provide financial, entrepreneurial and environmental, social, health and safety risk management support to self-sustaining solar energy companies to meet target market accessibility, as well as activities related to the development of a pipeline of projects eligible for the credit line.
A call for expressions of interest will be launched from November 14, 2023, via www.rogeappfm.orgfor the pilot countries of Burkina, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania and Nigeria, with the aim of pre-selecting OGS entrepreneurs and SMEs to support start-ups and early-stage businesses in launching and expanding their activities. The deadline for expressions of interest from the above countries is November 28, 2023.
Overall, support for solar companies in the start-up or post-creation phase amounts to $5 million in the form of matching grants for eligible countries[1].
This contact is the first step in the Project Fund Manager’s (PFM) activities. In the next online webinar, we’ll give you more details on the funds available, as well as local contacts and eligibility criteria for the various funds.
We thank you in advance for sharing this information with your contacts and partners, for your availability and for keeping in touch with us for future activities.
[1] Eligible Countries: CTF (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone) and DGIS (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger)