New competition round by the Facility Investing for Employment (IFE) will be opened on 20 March and 15 April 2026.
The Facility Investing for Employment will launch a new competition round in Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia. Investment projects must create jobs in the private sector. Candidates can apply for a second grant for training measures aimed at enhancing labour migration towards Germany.
In March and April 2026, the Facility Investing for Employment will launch a sector-open competition round in Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia. Companies as well as public and non-profit organisations can apply for co-financing grants. To be eligible, investment projects must create jobs in the private sector. Grants range from EUR 800,000 to EUR 10 million per project and can cover between 25 and 90 per cent of the total investment costs. This job creation component supports investments that generate sustainable employment in the partner countries and remove investment barriers. This includes, for example, investments in production facilities, equipment, skills development, and workforce training linked to the planned job creation project.
The Call for Proposals in the countries mentioned above seeks applications for four types of investment projects:
1. Not-for-profit projects with job creation impact (no revenues): IFE covers up to 90% of the investment costs.
2. Not-for-profit projects with job creation impact (generating revenues): IFE covers up to 75% of the investment costs.
3. For-profit projects with broader job creation impact: IFE covers up to 35% of the investment costs.
4. For-profit projects with job creation impact: IFE covers up to 25% of the investment costs.
New in 2026: In addition to the job creation grant, applicants can apply for a co-financing of training measures qualifying for possible employment in Germany, too. The option is available to applicants with a convincing job creation proposal in the IFE partner countries Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia. Eligible activities include, for example, construction, refurbishment and equipment of buildings, classrooms or workshops suitable for training for both the national and the German labour market, as well as language training or technical upskilling aligned with German labour market needs. Concept notes including this component will be treated with preference during the evaluation process.
This is how the application process works
Applications for projects in Ghana, Senegal, and Tunisia can be submitted from 20 March to 1 June 2026, applications for projects in Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, and Morocco from 15 April to 30 June 2026. In a first step, the Facility will make a pre-selection from the submitted concept notes. In a second phase, the selected applicants will be invited to submit fully elaborated project proposals, which will then be evaluated in detail. Successful applicants will be offered a grant contract.
The Facility only finances mature projects that have not yet started and that offer reasonable chances for being operationally and financially sustainable. Applicants are obliged to contribute own funds to complete the project finance. They must also prove that they cannot cover their funding needs from other sources.
The detailed competition criteria are available on the website.
The dates for the online information sessions will also be published. With the launch of the call, IFE will provide a helpdesk for questions related to the application process and the grant components. Once launched, the helpdesk can be reached at helpdesk-ife@invest-for-jobs.com (for all countries).
General information on the Facility Investing for Employment is available here
If you have questions about this Call for Proposals, please write to: cfp-ife.2026@invest-for-jobs.com
The Facility Investing for Employment is an investment mechanism created by KfW Development Bank on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) as an integral part of the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition".
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