Smart Energy Solutions for Africa (SESA) consortium invites local, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania to apply for the “2nd SESA Call for Entrepreneurs 2023”. The SESA project, funded by the European Commission is operative across nine African countries with local and international partners, testing and validating sustainable energy solutions and business models that are replicable and generate local opportunities for economic development.  

The call is looking for entrepreneurs with expertise in addressing the continent’s energy access challenges with a focus on rural and off-grid communities. The SESA project will make available between EUR 50,000 to EUR 100,000 per selected enterprise for the design, implementation, and evaluation of submitted replication projects via service agreements. Entities are welcome to form consortiums to apply for the call. However, if selected, the service agreement will be signed with the lead partner only.

Interested enterprises should be operational in domains such as solar irrigation technologies in rural communities, waste-to-energy solutions to improve clean cooking, and solar cold chain technologies for both peri-urban and rural communities among other related technical fields.

Eligibility Criteria

Certain minimum criteria need to be met and only those applications which meet the below minimum criteria will be considered:

  1. Your enterprise must be registered and operationally active in Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda or Tanzania;
  2. Your enterprise must have officially been in operation for at least three years;
  3. Your enterprise must have generated revenues and provide financial statements including income statement and balance sheets for the last two years (2022 and 2021);
  4. There are no pending litigations against your enterprise or members of its management team;
  5. Proof of previously similar work done in country.

Evaluation Criteria

The proposal will be assessed through the following weighted criteria:

  1. Innovation & Impact (25%)
  2. Business Robustness & Market Potential (20%)
  3. Expertise & Excellence of the Team (20%)
  4. Implementation Plan & Value for Money (30%)

Required (Mandatory) Documents

Applications must include all the below-mentioned requirements and must be submitted electronically via email to opencall@siemens-stiftung.org before the deadline of 25th of June 2023 – 23:59 CET (Brussels).

List of mandatory documents:

  1. Application Form
  2. Certificate of incorporation/association and registration certificate
  3. Financial statements for the last two years (including income statements and balance sheets for 2022 and 2021)
  4. Pictures and technical specifications of your product/service(s)

Please note: The SESA Call for Entrepreneurs 2023 will focus on SMEs operationally active in Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania as first priority. However, this does not preclude applications from SMEs registered and operative in other African countries as long as the technological requirements are met.

For more information on this funding opportunity, click here.