Heads of business briefed on Green Economic Transition Facility (GETF)
Over 70 business heads and banking executives from Malawi’s private sector joined the launch of the Green Economic Transition Facility (GETF) on Wednesday April 26, a facility aimed at catalysing private sector led investments in green business solutions.
The GETF will provide matching grants of between $40,000 and $300,000 and on-demand technical assistance of up to $35,000 to boost private sector investments in green products, technologies, services, and related business solutions to help urban and peri-urban residents transition into adopting the usage of green solutions.
According to Seamus O’Grady, Irish Ambassador to Malawi, these green business solutions “have been perceived to be too risky, behaviourally difficult to pursue by private sector, or as having too low a financial return to go ahead on purely commercial terms, but have potential to deliver not only environmental impact, but also significant social impact in the Malawian economy, if successfully delivered through commercially driven projects.”
Irish Aid is supporting Window 1 of the facility which will see successful projects receive matching grants and technical assistance to catalyse investments in alternative sources of energy and fuel-efficient solutions. The first round of calls for applications closes on 19th May.
According to UNDP resident representative, Shikegi Komatsubara, ‘de-risking and accelerating growth of innovative ideas in green business solutions’ is central to the concept of the GETF.
During the event, the GETF’s project manager, Tambulani Chunga, explained the GETF criteria and application process to would-be applicants.
"At GETF, we're committed to partnering with entrepreneurs with the appetite to fully realise the benefits of green business solutions" Chunga said.
While emphasising the government’s support, Alfonso Chikuni, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Energy, urged private sector players to take advantage of the GETF opportunity and apply for funding opportunities.
“As government we will always be available to support any request to process legal and regulatory applications by private sector companies to comply with the requirements of realising their green business solutions,” he said.
Learn more about GETF at www.getfmw.org
