develoPPP is a funding program of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is aimed at companies that want to invest sustainably in a developing or emerging country and expand their local operations. The program provides technical and financial support of up to 2 million euros for suitable projects. Prerequisites for funding are a long-term business interest in the country and a sustainable developmental benefit for the local people.
Entities that qualify
- Local professionals trainers
- Environmentally friendly companies
- Ideas that can advance the achievement of SDGs
- Businesses with long-term interest
Creating prospects for employment and income is a key challenge for economic development in Africa. The German Government aims to ‘challenge more and support differently’, and has used this approach in establishing reform partnerships with partner countries and the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation.
There is a focus on promoting employment for women and young people, particularly in areas with major potential for job creation, such as the textiles industry. By linking public and private sector involvement, development partnerships with the private sector can improve living and economic conditions in emerging economies.
More and more companies are aligning their business activities with global values and standards and meeting their social responsibilities while also looking to open up new production and sales markets. However, private companies and investors are not yet using the full potential of development partnerships with the private sector to contribute to training and employment in Africa.
Development partnerships involve cooperation on the part of governments, civil society, and responsible companies. This cooperation allows the skills and resources of all those involved to be combined. These partnership projects are financed partly by the public sector and partly by the private sector and are jointly designed, planned, and implemented.
The develoPPP for Jobs program was set up in order to implement the partnerships. With this program, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is promoting private sector involvement where business opportunities and the need for development policy action overlap – without being limited to specific sectors.
Four times a year, companies can participate in a competition for ideas organized by develoPPP.de. The competitions are open to all German and European companies and companies from emerging economies. Development partnerships resulting from these competitions can run for up to three years and cover a wide range of industries and topics. The company bears at least half of the total costs.
To ensure that projects achieve the desired results, high demands are placed on the project concepts with regard to their sustainability, broad impact, and potential for innovation and scalability. In developing the concept, attention is also paid to the long-term nature of the business interest and the benefits for development cooperation and the company.
The project creates new local structures by involving a particularly large number of local actors, anchoring knowledge in local institutions, and focusing on skills development. The aim is for as many people as possible to benefit from the project over a long period of time.
