About

The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) has announced a call for proposals to contribute towards the sustainable development of Mozambique through the support to the digital transition of the country.

Objectives of the Programme and Priority Issues

• The specific objective of the action financed through the grant of this call for proposals consists in supporting the Strategic Plan for the Information Society (2019-2028) of the Government of Mozambique through an action aimed at the creation of innovative tools of digital excellence for the improvement of public utility services, the promotion of entrepreneurship and the increase in digital skills.

• The priorities (Expected Results) and related Outputs, which this call for proposal will contribute to, are the following:

  • Expected Result - ER1: Increased offer and access to digital services and technologies for productive and social use.

    • Output: Established a Tech Hub of Digital Excellency, using an already existing public facility in the area of Maputo city, managed by a public-private partnership.

  • Expected Result – ER2: Increased digital competencies of young Mozambicans to stimulate innovation, productivity and growth.

    • Output: Young Mozambican people, with a special attention to females and people with disabilities, provided with basic and advanced skills in ICT to grab job opportunities offered by the digital economy.

  • Expected Result – ER3: Reinforced incubation and acceleration of sustainable and inclusive Digital Startups.

    • Output: Digital Start-ups (30-35) incubated with technical, legal, and financial support/mentorship to develop their innovative ideas and marketing them in the local ecosystem.

  • Expected Result – ER4: Improved public and private digital services with special attention to people with disabilities.

    • Output: Best social use ideas developed with financial support and delivered to competent institutions

• The identified outputs will be achieved through a set of activities to be proposed by the applicants, among the following:

  • Establishing a Tech Hub of Digital Excellency (PTED) using an already existing public facility within the area of Maputo city, managed by a public-private partnership). Creation of such Tech Hub is functional to the implementation of most of activities within the ER2, ER3, and ER4.

  • Tech hub Governance: An MoU will be established and signed by the representatives of the consortium’s members, defining roles and responsibility of each member for Tech hub Governance;

  • Tech hub management: definition of the business plan, sustainability plan, fund raising plan, communication and marketing plan. Another aspect of PTED will be the investment of resources in terms of networking especially for international networks of tech hubs (e.g. AfriLabs), to encourage the exchange of experiences and the importation of good practices;

  • Training and coaching for tech hub staff: organization of direct training for staff on management and development of start-up incubators;

  • Awareness campaigns on digital literacy, online safety and STEM disciplines, aimed at young people in the Province of Maputo, especially secondary schools.

Sectors or Themes

• Sustainable Development Goal target:

  • SDG 5: Gender Equality

  • SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  • SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

• OECD - DAC codes target:

  • 16020: Employment creation

    • Micro and small digital business creation, development, support in “incubation” stages

  • 22013 Information services - Development of information services

  • 22040: Information and Communication Technology

    • Technical assistance to local stakeholders or public bodies in developing countries;

    • IT training;

    • Computer hardware and software

Funding Information

• The overall indicative amount made available under this call for proposals is EUR 2,000,000.00 (two million Euros). The contracting authority reserves the right not to award all available funds.

• Size of grants

  • Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

    • minimum amount: EUR 2,000,000

    • maximum amount: EUR 2,000,000

Duration

• The initial planned duration of an action may not be lower than 30 months nor exceed 36 months.

Location

• Actions must take place in the “Grande Maputo” area, Mozambique.

Eligibility

Eligibility Criteria

• Lead Applicant(s)

  • In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:

    • be a legal person and

    • be non-profitmaking and

    • be established in one of the Member States of the European Union and

    • be authorized, or provide evidence of capacity to effectively operate in Mozambique and

    • be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.

  • The Lead Applicant shall also:

    • demonstrate adequate capacities for planning, monitoring, evaluation, advocacy, communication applicable to the action proposed, and

    • demonstrate expertise in similar projects worldwide, if possible, in a developing country. This set of experience and competences may be complemented by co-applicants and/or affiliate entities.

• Co-applicant(s)

  • Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant. In order to be eligible for a grant, the co-applicants must:

    • be a legal person and

    • be established in any of the countries belonging to the Organisation for the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as member countries or eligible for development aid according to the OECD-DAC List of ODA Recipients.

  • Co-applicants must sign the mandate form.

• Affiliated entities

  • The lead applicant and its co-applicant(s) may act with affiliated entity(ies).

  • Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities to the lead applicant and/or to co-applicant(s):

    • Only entities having a structural link with the applicants (i.e. the lead applicant or a co-applicant), in particular a legal or capital link. This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:

      • Control on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings:

        • Entities affiliated to an applicant may hence be:

          • Entities directly or indirectly controlled by the applicant (daughter companies or first-tier subsidiaries). They may also be entities controlled by an entity controlled by the applicant (granddaughter companies or second-tier subsidiaries) and the same applies to further tiers of control;

          • Entities directly or indirectly controlling the applicant (parent companies). Likewise, they may be entities controlling an entity controlling the applicant;

          • Entities under the same direct or indirect control as the applicant (sister companies).

      • Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association) as the proposed affiliated entities.

Post Date: January 11, 2024