The King Baudouin Foundation (KBF) has announced the Business Partnership Facility (BPF) - Companies for the SDGs financed by the Belgian Directorate-General for Development Cooperation (DGD) to encourage the involvement of the private sector in achieving the SDGs in developing countries.

The Foundation looks for viable, entrepreneurial business initiatives with a strong social impact.

Social impact, contributing to the SDGs:

• Creating and maintaining decent jobs;
• Improving the average income of low-income families;
• Accessibility to affordable goods and services;
• Inclusion and economic development of women and young people;
• Positive impact on the environment by saving resources, reducing emissions and/or preserving biodiversity.

Economic viability:

Partnerships must clearly demonstrate that the initiatives presented are:

• Capable of becoming self-sustaining;
• Scalable;
• Replicable.

Financing Information

• The BPF provides a non-refundable grant of between €50,000 and €200,000 which represents a maximum of 50% of the total investment.

Eligibility criteria

• Each applicant is preferably a partnership that brings together actors from the private sector, civil society, academia and/or the public sector. The partnership consists of a minimum of one business partner.
• Projects must take place in one of the developing countries, but partners can be Belgian, European or international legal entities, under public or private law.
• The project must be part of the core business of the business partner involved.

Selection criteria

• Effects that the project will have on development: the expertise and financial means contributed by the private sector as part of partnerships bringing about changes that contribute to one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
• Economic, environmental and social sustainability and good governance: partnerships must be linked as closely as possible to the core business of the players involved and must be socially, environmentally and economically sustainable (in accordance with international standards);
• Innovation, replicability and scalability: Priority will be given to innovative projects. The innovative dimension will be assessed both in terms of the product (features, functions and performance of products/services) and in terms of processes (the way products are manufactured or delivered, e.g. manufacturing, distribution and support of products or services). Initiatives must be replicable and scalable;
• Additionality: the role of GMP as a catalyst must be shown. The BPF provides a limited subsidy in terms of time and money. This is in addition to the capital mobilised and reduces the risk for the private investor. In addition, the principle of vacating aid, as laid down in Belgian legislation on co-operation, will always be verified;
• Impact on the sector or market: Subsidised projects should create a clear and sustainable change from the current operation. The actors involved will have increased their capacities (scaling) by the end of the subsidised phase, including to access large external financing if necessary;
• Experience and capacity of the beneficiary: the beneficiary must be able to show through a simplified business plan that they have sufficient resources (both human and financial) to implement the project;
• Degree of co-financing: the co-financing of the partnership must be at least equivalent to the value of the grant requested and must be provided as a cash contribution. This is a qualifying criterion in the pre-selection phase;
• Efficiency: the relationship between overheads and the overall budget will be used to calculate the efficiency of the project. Projects with high overheads will not be retained;
• Inclusion: the project must show that it includes vulnerable people, particularly young people, women, people with disabilities and people living at risk;
• Synergy and complementarity with other players: projects that show evidence of complementarity and synergy with other existing projects and/or with Belgian development cooperation actors and partners will be favoured.

For more information, visit https://www.kbs-frb.be/en/Activities/Calls/2021/20181211_MG_001