By Tendai Guvamombe
The Renewable Energy Agency of Zimbabwe (REAZ) on Thursday spearheaded the launch of Second call for Proposals for Modern Cooking Facility for Africa.
Indications are that there will be more approvals to this year’s call coming from the Zimbabwe’s private companies.
The call comes as a great opportunity for the country in providing green funding for both start ups and established entities in the private space.
The launch seeks to galvanise Increasing access to clean high-technology cooking solutions in Africa.
Speaking to this publication after the launch REAZ Chairperson Isaah Nyakusendwa said the launch provided an opportunity for local stakeholders in the sector to increase their ability to increase their space in providing clean cooking solutions for the country.
“Today all stakeholders had the opportunity to learn about the Second call for Proposals for Modern Cooking Facility for Africa. Last year we had on one private sector company that was approved in the First round of call. Hopefully this year we are anticipating for many approvals of proposals coming from different private companies small and big.”
The MCFA facility is financially incentivising companies to engage in offering affordable, high-quality and energy-efficient clean cooking services, combining results-based financing with catalytic grants for companies active in the clean cooking market to grow and scale up their businesses in the target countries.
Ash Sharma Head of Modern Cooking Facility for Africa (MCFA) walked all participants in a presentation about the stages in Second call for Proposals.
These include the eligibility and criteria of the private companies to enter in the Second call for Proposals. The first Pre Qualification Stage will end on 31 January with the Notification of Pre-qualification on the 16th of January 2024.
The deadline for the submission of the Business Plans will be on the 2nd April 2024. The launch also provided a platform for stakeholders in the green space to share network, knowledge sharing and reflecting on the myriad challenges being faced by the sector. Presentations were made by REAZ, Lanforce Energy, NEFCO among other players.
