The African Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) has launched a US1.2 million Innovation Fund to unlock the potential of renewable energy to create new business opportunities in Ethiopia.
Through the fund, businesses and entrepreneurs in Ethiopia can apply for funding to strengthen market readiness of emerging innovations, as well as secure financial, technical, and networking support for taking existing proven prototypes to scale.
Solutions that reduce the negative impacts associated with the use of traditional cooking options at the household and institutional levels; build climate change resilience among communities and support productive uses such as water pumping, agro-processing, cooling and refrigeration services are examples that the Fund seeks to support. In applying, businesses and entrepreneurs will need to demonstrate how their proposed innovations will transform livelihoods of low-income households through creation of jobs and diversification of livelihoods.