ECOWAS Second Grants Call for Stand-Alone Solar SMEs

ROGEAP is financed by the World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Government of the Netherlands.

ECOWAS in partnership with Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD) implements ROGEAP. The Project and Fund Manager (PFM) with offices in Abuja and Lomé supports ECOWAS in implementing the project ROGEAP specifically aims to improve access to sustainable energy by building a regional market for off-grid solar (OGS) products and supporting value chain stakeholders.

Objectives

• Improve access to sustainable energy by building a regional market for off-grid solar products.
• Support stakeholders across the off-grid solar value chain.
• Promote quality off-grid solar products and environmental, social and gender risk management.

Benefits

• Customised training programmes for entrepreneurs, SMEs, large solar companies and financial institutions
• windows for eligible and qualified businesses between $15,000 and $250,000 for certified off-grid and standalone solar systems
• Application support & milestone monitoring
• B2B networking & annual business plan competition

Eligible Countries

• Among 19 project countries, 13 are eligible for financial support and technical assistance: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone.

Eligibility

• Start-up company
  • 3 full-time staff
  • 300 solar home kits or <1,500 lanterns sold
  • Annual revenue of <$100,000
  • No need commercial funding yet
• Early-stage company
  • 3 – 25 full-time staff
  • 300 – 30,000 solar home kits or 1,500 – 30,000 lanterns sold
  • Annual revenue of <$3,000,000
  • SME should has a Business account
• Growth-stage company
  • 25 full-time staff
  • 30,000 solar home kits or > 50,000 lanterns sold
  • Annual revenue of >$3,000,000
  • Required Business account and Audited financial statements

For more information, visit ECOWAS.