SMEs and businesses that have outstanding, innovative green ideas are invited to apply for the Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) Innovation Challenge.

The initiative is a four-year joint project of the European Union, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), and SNV, a not-for-profit international organization.

The GrEEn Innovation Challenge is a yearly competition that aims to support entrepreneurs and green-focused SMEs to increase their operations.

Objectives

The project will:

• Promote the green and circular economy in Ghana
• Promote green product/service innovation
• Contribute to the creation of green jobs whilst strengthening the business skills of green entrepreneurs
• Improve access to the market for green products by highlighting and showcasing green businesses and SMEs and supporting the operations and sustainability of green SMEs

Features of the challenge

The GrEEn Innovation Challenge will have the following key elements:

• Matching grants will be awarded as co-investments through a competitive process.
• Provision of up to €25,000 of the total required investment for the proposed initiatives on an 80:20 basis.
• Investment size will be based on the level of innovation, commercial viability, environmental and social impact potential of the selected initiatives.

Funding

For the 2021 edition of the competition, 8 outstanding SMEs will be selected and a total of up to EUR 25,000 will be awarded to each of them in the form of matching grants.

Note the following additional information:

• The SMEs will co-invest on a 20:80 basis with cash and in-kind contributions.
• The SMEs are required to have at least 10% equity as their co-investment. Any in-kind contribution must be specific and directly related to the project.
• The cash contribution can be recently procured direct capital expenditure (equipment, physical assets, etc) or project operational expenses.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for the GrEEn Innovation Challenge, you must meet all the requirements below:

• Your SME must be located in the Ashanti or Western;
• Regions or have operations in the regions for at least a year;
• Your solution must be economically viable either in the form of a social or for-profit business;
• It must have a positive impact on the climate, environment, and community;
• It must be along the verticals of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, and/or Agriculture sectors;
• The solution must have been developed and ready to go to market (at least a working prototype or demo) or already on the market with existing customers;
• The lead entrepreneur must be between the ages of 18-35 years. Women entrepreneurs can be older than 35 but no older than 40 years;
• Businesses led by women and/or returning migrants will be given priority.

How to apply

The application process is as follows:

• Click here to apply for the GrEEn Innovation Challenge through its online application portal.
• Complete the online application by sharing a link to a 30 seconds (max) video/demo of the business/solutions to [email protected] before submitting your online application. Video can be uploaded to an accessible cloud drive or on YouTube

Deadline

All entries must be submitted before Sunday, 18 July 2021 at 23:59 GMT.