• Market Aggregators: Platforms that provide reliable and new market opportunities, and economic development.
• Agricultural, Renewable Processing and Manufacturing Companies: Creating economic opportunities by generating employment opportunities for product/service providers along the value chain.
• Innovative Digital Solutions Providers in Agriculture and Renewable Energy.
• Production and Distribution Models that Support Local Entrepreneurship and SME Growth within the Targeted Value Chains:
  • Business Models that Provide Incentives for Rural Areas to Access Improved Input Use and Adoption, Including Renewable Resources: Energy management practices, seeds, fertilizers, soil and water, post-harvest handling, and technology improvements in areas such as irrigation, conservation agriculture, integrated forest management practices, etc.
  • Business Models that Address Climate-Smart Technologies, Services, and Practices at the Manufacturing and Farm Levels: For example, solar energy technology, biogas, chemical-free grain storage, etc. Proposed solutions should, wherever possible, take a value chain approach to demonstrate their relevance to the broader sector.

Companies in the field of Agriculture, Renewable energy business chain, ICT & Commutations that have legal registration and documentation and a track record of continuous operation for more than two years operating in the targeted geographical area or have the ability to relocate and expand their operations to the eastern states of Sudan Al-Qadarif, Kassala, and the Red Sea. Other areas will be added later based on the program's strategy and available opportunities.

The support provided includes a package of:

• Incentive funding: Non-repayable incentive funding based on the level of business and its prepared plans.The funding ranges from 50,000 euros to 750,000 euros.
• Targeted technical assistance: Provision of targeted technical assistance on business development services as required by the beneficiaries.
• Access to further financing: Access to further financing through investment advisory services and investment facilitation support in later stages from financial institutions, individual investors, and venture capitalists.

The program is flexible in dealing with applications submitted, based on an assessment of the information provided by companies and business owners through verification procedures carried out by the program's field teams. Therefore, the evaluation process differs from company to company. Legal proof may be proof of a business name, a company registration document, or an official commercial license, among others.

There are two main categories through which support is provided:

• Emergency Working Capital Window: This category utilizes emergency technical and financial support for SMEs and aims to support 60 companies with investments ranging from 50,000 euros to 250,000 euros using phased funding methods. This window also aims to provide the financing that SMEs need that typically do not find ways to access financing from other sources and also to encourage them to re-establish and transfer their businesses, rebuild and develop them to provide services to their communities in Sudan.
• Growing or Evolving Businesses Window: This window targets existing and ongoing service-oriented companies that are looking for larger investment amounts to expand or rebuild the company for large job opportunities or to reshape one of the main sectors of the economy. Funding amounts in this window range from 250,000 euros to 750,000 euros and depend on the size of the business, revenue, business plan, and expansion to achieve the expected impacts.

Basically, the program does not require a return or shares or assets from the projects that receive incentive funding, but the program aims to create a positive impact and improve the development opportunities of the targeted productive sectors and create employment opportunities and positive impact and contribute to mitigating the effects of conflict on communities, and improving the infrastructure for the agriculture and renewable energy sectors in Sudan. It also aims to support businesses and help them maintain continuity and development.

In order for private sector companies to be eligible for technical support and later financing, they must meet the following criteria:

• Apply for a grant within the specified scope.
• Be legally registered and physically located in Sudan or intend to return to Sudan to continue the project.
• Its operating period is not less than two years, with the ability to provide the necessary work permits.
• Pass the - Know Your Customer (KYC) test of AMT/CFT, AECF (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing), (PEP and IDD due diligence on integrity), based on the information provided as part of the application.
• Be compliant with the basic laws and regulations of the country, including tax compliance laws.
• Commit to international human rights, labor standards, and environmental management laws.
• Not be involved in any act of corruption. AECF requires that the applicant, including its employees, contractors and suppliers (do not engage in bidding for third parties, or seek or accept or promise from third parties themselves or any other party any gift or reward or compensation or benefit of any kind that is interpreted as an illegal or corrupt practice.
• Not be associated with activities prohibited by the Government of Sudan, terrorism, money laundering, or the list of prohibiting trade with certain companies or from the International Finance Corporation, the United States Agency for International Development, the United Nations, the European Union, and any other networks, and the United Nations Security Council resolutions issued under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. Screening will be conducted for all applicants and related parties and the EU sanctions list, etc.
• Not be a representative of a government or quasi-governmental agency of any kind. This includes the government, institutions or companies owned or partly owned by the government or quasi-governmental entities that have large ownership or commercial ties with the government or quasi-governmental entities. Any subsequent identification of these links will result in the immediate termination of the grant agreement.

The program provides advisory solutions starting from assistance in the application process and consultations in the form of opportunities that can be worked within and targeted, in addition to specialized technical support from specialized experts in the different financing stages. Technical support is in two stages:

• Phase 1: Technical support after the initial selection within the initial list and before presentation to the selection and financing committees, where technical support is provided to project owners in reviewing the business plan, identifying self-financing methods, disbursement directions, and reviewing the application submitted to the financing committee, which makes a decision on whether or not to provide financial and technical support to the participants. The financing application may also be rejected in order to provide other technical support in order to better prepare the participants, then they can submit in the next cycle in a better way.
• Phase 2: After financing some participants and determining the financial amounts that will be provided to them, continuous technical support is provided throughout the financing period. Technical support provides follow-up on the growth of companies and helps in consultations and services in the various aspects of the project, from marketing, to financing, to accounting, human resources, strategies, sales and legal aspects.