The following eligibility criteria is applicable for both the Seed and Innovation Grants.
Innovation
Innovation is an essential component of EFInA’s Innovation Fund, although it is sometimes hard to define, and therefore difficult for prospective bidders to address. The EFInA Fund emphasises Innovation in order to focus its finite resources on novel ways of providing access to financial services in Nigeria, rather than replicating existing approaches. It aims to:
- Generate and pilot new ideas and business models that increase access to financial services for low income customers that are unbanked and under-banked
- Support projects that extend the frontier of knowledge in the area of inclusive financial services provision
- Maximise the impact of EFInA’s Innovation Fund by supporting inventive projects that have good potential for replication
For EFInA funding, Innovation should involve one or more of the following:
- Developing financial products or services that are currently not available in Nigeria
- Finding new channels (including technology) to deliver financial products or services to groups that do not currently enjoy access to such products or services
- Adapting existing products or services to meet the specific needs of a target market that does not currently have access to such products or services
- Developing new approaches and methodologies to offer financial products or service to groups that do not currently have access
Eligible Projects
Eligible projects are projects that:
- Involve providing access to financial services for the unbanked and under-banked low income customers
- Is innovative to the Nigerian market and its development is likely to be accelerated with the support of the EFInA Innovation Fund
- Has an innovative process, product or business model new to Nigeria
- Have the potential to deliver financial services on a large scale, even though such scale may not be achieved at the outset
- The proposed project is commercially viable at the end of the grant period, either because it is self-sustaining or because additional resources are identified to continue the operations
- Applicants must explain why the project cannot readily obtain commercial finance or other sources of finance, i.e., the project would not have proceeded without granting funding
Eligible Grantees
EFInA is aiming for a diverse portfolio of grantees in Nigeria. Priority will be given to products and services for which there is a significant demand yet insufficient supply. Organisations eligible for EFInA grants include:
The applicant (or the lead applicant in a consortium) must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Legally incorporated entity
- The applicant is a registered business based in Nigeria with a minimum trading history of three years
- At least three years of audited financial statements. However, new entities or joint ventures may present the audited statements of their main sponsor or shareholders
- Have the capacity to implement the proposed project for the applied funding
- If the applicant offers or plans to offer financial services of a type which requires it to be licensed or regulated in Nigeria, then the entity must be capable of being so registered and must be licensed before starting to offer any such product
- Where an applicant proposes to use in its project intellectual property that is protected by law in Nigeria, it must demonstrate proof that it has obtained permission to use such intellectual property prior to commencing with a project funded by the Innovation Fund
- An applicant may partner with other entities to form a consortium who jointly apply for a grant. However, the Fund will contract only with the lead party who shall be responsible for the implementation of the entire project.
Eligible Expenditure
Seed Grant funds may be used for technical assistance, market surveys, business case development, research or any other expenses incurred during design, pilot or rollout phases.
Innovation Grant funds may be used to cover a portion of the costs (such as technical assistance, consulting fees) to implement and test the innovation and should be targeted towards a particular project.
Non-Eligible Expenditure
EFInA funds cannot be used for:
- subsidizing the organization’s general operations
- acquiring fixed assets
- loan capital or guarantee funds
- advertising and marketing
- office relocation
- providing loans to applicant's customers(on-lending)
Applicant Contribution
Funding match: Applicants are required to provide funds at least equal to the contribution of EFInA (1:1 matching funds), which must be objectively verifiable. Fees generated by services offered through the project cannot serve as counterpart contributions. The match may include the acquisition of fixed assets or the funding of staff time at a disclosed rate and on a basis acceptable to EFInA for the purpose of the project. EFInA would also consider other forms of grantee contributions (especially for start up companies).
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