The Facility « Investing for Employment » is an investment mechanism for job creation, providing competitive grants to co-finance public or private projects in its eight partner countries in Africa, including Rwanda.
The Facility is part of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Operating under the brand Invest for Jobs, the Special Initiative aims to create good jobs and apprenticeships and to improve working conditions in its partner countries in Africa: Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt (in preparation), Ethiopia, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia.
Green Economy will be a priority theme of this call for proposals
Rwanda's Green Economy policy was set out in the Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy (GGCRS), whose objective it is to transform the mindset of the Rwandan society towards achieving the desired carbon-neutral and climate resilient economy. The GGCRS is fully embedded in Rwanda’s « Vision 2050 », which establishes the country’s strategic development framework for 2020-2050. While project proposals from different sectors can qualify for funding, priority will be given to proposals that contribute to the economic development in areas such as green cities, sustainable agriculture, sustainable energy and transport systems, biodiversity and forestry, water, wastewater, solid waste, resource efficiency. All applicants will have to show how their projects contribute to the creation of sustainable jobs.
The first call for proposals in Rwanda will launch on 3 May 2021 at 5 pm CET. It will seek applications for four types of projects:
- Public infrastructure for job creation – not-for-profit (up to 90 % of the cost)
- Common service for job creation – not-for-profit (up to 75 % of the cost)
- For-profit-projects that foster direct job creation, and have broader benefits/impacts that are not limited to the project owners (up to 50 % of the cost)
- For-profit-projects that foster direct job creation by the project owners (up to 25 % of the cost).
Grants range from 1 million to 10 million euros per project. The applicant is obliged to contribute own funds to complete the project finance. The level of co-financing depends on the type of project.
How does the application process work?