Business Partnership Challenge 2024

The “Business Partnership Challenge 2024 – Challenge for Sustainable Business Practices in Developing Countries” is an initiative of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of Austrian Development Cooperation, based on the ADA Business Partnership Programme.

Strategic Objectives and Guiding Principles

The overall goals of ADA are combating poverty, promoting peace, and protecting the environment. The Business Partnership Challenge 2024 contributes to these goals by supporting projects that,

• try to act as systemic as possible, facilitating lasting structural change, e.g. by building institutional capacities, connect local and international partners, and implement international norms and standards.
• are as inclusive as possible, collaborate with many local stakeholders and thereby reach a large number of beneficiaries, e.g. by involving local enterprises, public stakeholders and civil-society organisations (multi-stakeholder approach).
• trigger innovative processes or products aiming to find solutions for development-related challenges in the specific context of the respective partner country/countries.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• Eligible projects must contribute to the SDGs and improve the living conditions of people living in countries of the Global South, preferably in least developed countries (LDCs). Contributions to each of the 17 individual SDGs are eligible. However, each project must include:
  • SDG 8: creating decent jobs and generating income for the local partners and other local stakeholders and
  • SDG 9: supporting local small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and entrepreneurs.
• Other SDGs the project may contribute to,
  • generating income from sustainable agricultural production (SDG 2),
  • providing demand-oriented vocational education and training (SDG 4),
  • promoting gender equality (SDG 5),
  • providing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy (SDG 7),
  • applying sustainability principles to commercial operations (SDG 12),
  • taking action to combat climate change and its impacts (SDG 13).

Funding Information

• Amount of available funds A total amount of EUR 5,000,000 has been earmarked for the Business Partnership Challenge 2024. ADA provides grants between EUR 500,000 (min.) and EUR 1,000,000 (max.) per project and contributes a maximum of 50 percent of the total project costs.
• The minimum project length is three years, the maximum length five years.

Applicants 

• Eligible to apply for funding are, exclusively,
  • enterprises,
  • voluntary associations and non-profit foundations, under the proviso that development cooperation forms part of their statutory purposes and actual business activities, as well as
  • chambers, under the proviso that they engage in development cooperation
  • in the European Economic Area (Austria/EEA+) or Switzerland.
• The applicant has been in existence for more than three years and has the administrative, technical, and financial capacity to successfully carry out a project.
• If at least one partner meets the requirements stated above, additional partners are qualified to participate in the project financially or with contributions of other monetary value.

For more information, visit Austrian Development Agency.