in supporting green industry startups in their regional expansion!
About the program
The IYBA-SEED Project (“Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Supporting Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development”) aims to promote decent employment for young people and women by strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystems of 5 countries (Senegal, Benin, Togo, South Africa, Kenya).
More specifically, IYBA-SEED’s regional program is part of the IYBA-SEED Project ; it focuses on :
- the regional interconnection of players
- the green industry
- the capacity development and networks of ESOs
Objectives
Regional Capacity Building Program for ESOs in fostering regional market access for green entrepreneurs
Empower selected entrepreneurship support organizations (ESO) in Kenya, Senegal, Togo, Benin and South Africa to improve their service offering, helping green industry entrepreneurs expand into regional markets.
Support a cohort of green entrepreneurs/startups selected from the
ESO in their regional
expansion using the newly
developed tool.
⇒ The ambition of this regional program is to strengthen the operational capacities of Entrepreneurial Support Organisations (ESOs) to foster regional success stories in Green Industries.
By the end of the program:
- The selected ESOs are recognised as local champions and key players to expand SEED businesses in Green Industries
- The selected ESOs have improved their BDS (Business Development Services) for SEED entrepreneurs in the green industry, and through it, their ability to generate revenue.
- The selected ESOs have established structured collaborations with green economy players, (e.g. investors, business partners at national and regional level, resulting in concrete market access and investment opportunities)
- The supported SEED Entrepreneurs in green industries have demonstrated measurable progress in regional expansion
- A peer learning model is created among the 12 ESOs fostering continued knowledge exchange, cross-border collaboration and co-supported startup expansion post-program
Who is this program for?
The IYBA-SEED Regional expansion program is aimed at ESOs (Entrepreneur Support Organizations)
Based in: Senegal or Togo or Benin or Kenya or South Africa
With at least 3 years of legal existence
Supporting SEED entrepreneurs in green industries …
And keen to strengthen its skills in supporting SEEDs in their market expansion strategies
Willing and available to strengthen internal skills in supporting SEED companies in green industries in their regional expansion
And more ….
Become an ESO champion in supporting green industry startups in their regional expansion!
DEADLINE : May 27th, 2025 at 23:59 GMT
Program content
ESOs
capacity
building
A personalized coaching and sector-specific experts support
Regional community of ESOs, connected to investors, businesses and institutional partners
A practical scale up phase with your startups
A unique, digitalized and dedicated tool to market expansion for green industries SMEs
A practical scale up phase with your startups
Click here and discover more about the opportunities offered in the terms and conditions of the call for applications
Eligibility criteria
To take part in the IYBA-SEED Regional program, you must :
Demonstrate at least three years of legal and active existence.
- Be legally constituted, and offer services for entrepreneurs in a specific geographic scope:
- For Senegal: legally constituted in the country
- For Togo: legally constituted in the country and operate in the cities of Lomé, Tsévié, Atakpamé, and Kara.
- For Benin: legally constituted in the country and operate in the four coastal departments: Ouémé, Mono, Atlantique, and Littoral.
- For Kenya: legally constituted in the country and operate in the counties of Uasin Gishu, Kisumu, and Nakuru.
- For South Africa: legally constituted in the country and presence in the provinces of Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga.
- Have at least two dedicated staff members or employees focused on supporting entrepreneurs.
- Offer services specifically aimed at SEED (or growth) stage entrepreneurs, with references or services related to supporting SEED entrepreneurs in regional expansion or in green industries and environmental sectors.
- Demonstrate sufficient financial capacity to support and implement the project independently.
- Your program referent :
- Demonstrates the ability to follow a program in English, including participation in training or sessions in English.
- Is available and committed to actively participating in all stages of the project, providing continuous contribution.
- Can travel abroad and has a valid passport to travel
- NOTA BENE: Passport must be valid minimum until February 2026 (with the option for the referee to remake a passport – passport renewal costs are not covered by IYBA-SEED – to ensure final validity until March 2027)/ideally already valid until the end of March 2027.
DEADLINE : May 27th, 2025 at 23:59 GMT
For further information on the program, you can download the terms and conditions of the call for applications clicking here.
Our services
As part of the IYBA-SEED regional program, we are deploying a series of activities, the main ones being:
- Coordination of the project
- In-depth study of trends and opportunities in green industries
- Identification, selection and onboarding ESOs capable of committing to the regional green industries program
- Development of an integrated, digitalized tool to support the regionalization of green entrepreneurs, aimed at ESOs and their companies
- Training of ESOs
- Development of a portfolio of international and country-specific financial partners
- Support for startups in Green Industries
- Organization of final program network events
- Participation in a Pan-African event
