Invest Salone has today (1 September 2022) announced a new COMPETE Salone innovation grant opportunity for the private sector in Sierra Leone to develop or use environmentally sustainable technology and approaches to expand their businesses.
Funded by the UK Government, COMPETE Salone is designed to be a responsive mechanism that meets the needs of the private sector and supports innovative projects with the potential to create jobs, improve livelihoods and increase exports. The new environmental window will provide grants of between £100,000–300,000 for projects that can:
- Support climate-smart agricultural interventions that can link larger scale off-takers at the top of supply chains to smallholder producers and agribusiness.This should reduce transaction costs, maintain the integrity and efficiency of the supply chain and ensure jobs and income.
- Test the commercial development of technologies such as hydro-power, solar energy, biomass and wind energy for use in agribusiness and light manufacturing.
- Develop and test the potential to deepen the market for innovative recycled products for commercial uses, including (but not limited to) the manufacturing and construction sectors.
Projects can last up to 24 months and project promoters must provide funds of at least 50% of the total cost of the idea and demonstrate the capacity to implement their proposed project. A maximum of four grants will be awarded under the environmental window and successful projects will be replicated or scaled up on a purely commercial basis once COMPETE Salone financing is completed.
COMPETE Salone invites eligible businesses with the capacity to implement their ideas to submit a concept note to outline proposed projects. Bids must be led by a for-profit private-sector enterprise, though they may do so in partnership with other organisations including non-governmental and community organisations.
Organisations that wish to be considered for this round will need to submit a concept note by close of business (Sierra Leone Time) on 26 September 2022.
Only selected applicants will be asked to submit a full proposal. Full details of the eligibility criteria, application process and project concept note forms are available here: https://investsalone.com/compete-salone/
Invest Salone is a private sector initiative which facilitates inclusive economic growth in Sierra Leone. It is funded by UK aid from the UK Government.
An overview of COMPETE Salone and the activities of previous grantees can be found on the Invest Salone website.
