Concours @en

CALL FOR BUSINESS PROPOSALS Applications must be received by October 19, 2014

Event Sponsors:
USAID Regional Clean Energy Investment Initiative(RCEII), Climate Technology Initiative Private Financing Advisory Network ( CTI PFAN), African Development Bank (AfDB) through its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA)

Organizers / Event Partners:

ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD), and African Biofuels and Renewable Energy Company (ABREC ), affiliated with ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID)

The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) and partners co-organized in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, an event on Friday, September 4 to launch and promote the second West Africa Clean Energy Finance Forum (WAFCEF-2). The partners include the Climate Technology Initiative Private Financing Advisory Network (CTI PFAN), Regional Clean Energy Investment Initiative (RCEII) together with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), Banque ouest africaine de développement (BOAD), and the African Biofuels and Renewable Energy Company (ABREC), which is affiliated with the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).

The purpose of the  West Africa Clean Energy Finance Forum (WAFCEF-2)  is to reach out and attract potential start-ups and existing companies with promising clean energy projects to enter into the business plan competition.

The Competition:

WAFCEF-2 final Forum will be held in April 2015 where up to 10 qualified projects will have the opportunity to present their Business Plans to invited investors and make a pitch for financing. As part of the competition, an Expert Panel including investors, industry specialists and business executives with a keen interest in enabling cleaner and greener projects in West Africa, will judge the Finalists’ presentations and select the top three projects for the West African Clean Energy Financing Awards.

Benefits

• West African businesses selected through the Business Plan Competition will receive free mentoring to help them polish their business plans, develop convincing investment pitches, and formulate a commercially, financially, socially and environmentally viable growth strategy that in turn will significantly enhance the possibility of obtaining financing.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Any entrepreneur or company actively operating and/or registered in ECOWAS countries of West Africa including: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo may participate in the Business Plan Competition.
• Clean energy projects in an ECOWAS country not exceeding US $50 million.
• Proposals must reasonably demonstrate that the project is commercially and technically viable

Acceptable Proposals
Proposals eligible for the competition, may include, but are not limited to:

Greenfield and brownfield utility projects and distributed generation projects;
New business ventures;
Deployment of an existing clean technology;
Commercialization of a new clean technology;
Merger, acquisition or joint venture that will add value to an existing clean energy business;
Other innovative proposals and business models focused on clean energy that have positive development impacts and result in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions.