Deadline: 11 June, 2020

The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) is offering the REACT Kenya Relief Fund (RKRF) to Energy Distribution Companies (EDCs) operating in Kenya. The Fund will provide emergency grants to distributed energy service companies who are struggling to maintain access to energy to their thousands of rural customers because of the unprecedented disruptions and challenges from operating during the Covid-19 pandemic.

AECF has been supporting Kenyan businesses to reach off-grid rural communities with low cost, clean energy products, and services. By providing patient capital in the forms of grants and zero-interest loans to a carefully selected portfolio of companies, AECF has been able to contribute to enhanced energy access for over 700,000 off-grid households, create thousands of new jobs and opportunities for young people, and improve incomes and health conditions for rural communities.

The relief fund is a $2 million initiative that will award emergency grants to companies operating in Kenya that can demonstrate that they are serving the energy needs of off-grid households in poor rural and peri-urban areas and that they need financial support if they are to safeguard jobs and essential services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Benefits

• Funding is between $50,000–$200,000 to cover short-term working capital needs (three to 12 months) and technical assistance for business continuity

Eligibility

• Be a limited liability company (LLC), legally registered and physically established in Kenya
• Minimum of $250,000 turnover in the past 12 months, with more than 30 staff in Kenya, and a current portfolio of at least 3,000 active energy customers
• Business goal is to increase access to clean and affordable energy solutions for all (SDG 7)
• At least 70 percent of revenue from sales of energy access products/services to low-income households
• Demonstrate a clear approach to continuing services and preserving value chain employment during and post Covid-19
• Must have working capital covered up to June 2020 and a ten-month funding plan showing liquidity scenarios from July
• Has a financing gap created by the impact of Covid-19, split per budget line and not supported by other sources of funding
• Can justify the need for relief funding of between $50,000–$200,000
• Has capacity to quantify the socioeconomic impact the support will have on the company’s customers and employees during Covid-19

To apply and for more information, click here.

Photo source: AECF