Water and Energy for Food Grand Challenge (WE4F) MENA launches the second round of its support program for Middle Eastern and Northern African innovators promoting local, sustainable, and scalable solutions for challenges in the water, energy, and agriculture sectors.
WE4F is proud to announce the launch of the second WE4F MENA Call for Innovations, to foster innovation and enhance food security in the region. This call will support up to 20 companies working on providing more sustainable water or energy solutions for agriculture. The selected companies will receive customized support in the form of technical assistance, investment facilitation, and grants totalling up to $1 USD million to grow their businesses, combat resource scarcity, and foster the transition to a green economy.
MENA RIH Program
Water scarcity, environmental degradation, inefficient food production methods, climate change, unemployment, and protracted conflict all threaten the MENA region’s long-term prosperity and stability. Tackling issues related to water, energy, and food is imperative to overcoming these barriers and achieving greater stability. Together with investors and partners, the MENA RIH works with companies to produce more food while using less water and more sustainable energy sources.
In addition to funding regional companies, the MENA RIH program helps them grow by providing technical assistance and facilitating investment options; supporting expanded investment through grants, soft loans, and other tailored financial instruments; and the joint creation of a supportive, business-enabling environment. The winners of the second MENA Call for Innovations will join the 16 businesses and organizations who are currently already part of the MENA cohort. To learn more about currently supported businesses, visit: https://we4f.org/innovators.
The second MENA Call for Innovations will accept submissions from October 14 to November 25, 2021, with all information including eligibility criteria and application guidelines available at https://we4f.org/apply-mena
About WE4F
WE4F is a joint international initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Netherlands, Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). To learn more, visit we4f.org and follow WE4F on Twitter @WE4FGCD.
The WE4F Middle East and North Africa Regional Innovation Hub (a consortium of Berytech, cewas, Chemonics Egypt and the International Water Management Institute) supports innovators in ten countries across the region to produce more food while using less water and energy. Together with investors and partners, the MENA RIH works to scale mid-to-later stage enterprises that have an environmental and social impact in the water-energy-food nexus.