CFAs: Facility Investing for Employment Grants Job Creation

The program focuses on job creation in the private sector, prioritizing the number of new good jobs and cost per job, improvements in working conditions and income for existing employees, participation in higher education or short-term job-related trainings, and bonus aspects such as jobs for women and youth, contributions to feminist development and just transition, and synergies with other German Development Cooperation projects.

IFE funding is available for mature projects that have not yet started and are operationally and financially viable. Applicants must contribute their own funds to complete the project finance. Eligible projects fall into four categories: not-for-profit projects without revenue generation, not-for-profit projects with revenue generation, for-profit projects creating jobs at independent third-party entities, and for-profit projects creating jobs within the applicant’s entity. Grant sizes for job creation range from 800,000 to 10 million EUR per project, applicable across all eligible countries.

Eligible jobs must be new positions in the private sector with a minimum of 520 working hours over up to one year, salaries meeting national minimum wage or Special Initiative standards, and compliance with International Labour Organisation core standards, including no child or forced labor, non-discrimination, freedom of association, collective bargaining, and occupational health and safety. For self-entrepreneurs and freelancers, minimum income and working hours requirements apply. Jobs created at the applicant’s or related entities must not have occurred without IFE support, and jobs at third-party entities require a formal commitment that the positions result directly from the IFE-funded project.

The IFE program ensures that grant funding directly contributes to sustainable employment generation in the private sector while promoting decent work standards and inclusive opportunities.

For more information, visit GIZ.