• Who can access Fonerwa?

  • Line ministries, Private sector, Sivil society entities, Districts

  • Apply

HOW THE FUND WORKS

The Rwanda Green Fund is the country’s national fund for environment related investments and is known locally as FONERWA. The fund invests in public, civil society and private projects that have the potential for transformative change and that align with Rwanda’s commitment to building a strong climate resilient and green economy.

FONERWA carries out a formalized process of public Calls For Proposals (CFPs) to receive Project Profile Documents (PPDs) known as concept note developed according to pre-established criteria. All proposals received by stipulated deadline are then taken through a rigorous screening process.

The project or programme proposal screening is carried out in a fair, transparent, competitive multi-step process. It is overseen by the FONERWA Secretariat with ultimate funding decisions made by the Board of Directors based on evaluations and recommendations provided by the FONERWA secretariat and & Investment Committee.

 

INVESTMENT AVENUES

Government ministries and agencies, districts, civil society organisations including academic institutions and the private sector can access this financing from the Rwanda Green Fund.

Investments must align with the fund’s eligibility criteria, and the project or programmes are assessed appropriately. There are three financing priorities through which the fund provides investment:

Funding windows

-          Conservation & management of natural resources strengthened and sustained.

-          R&D and technology transfer and implementation facilitated and utilised.

-          Environment and climate change issues mainstreamed into policies, programmes, plans, budgets and activities for public and non-public agencies.

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WHO CAN APPLY

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

The Rwanda green Fund provides grant to public institutions including central government, local government, and academic to implement green projectsthat have the potential for transformative change and that align with Rwanda’s commitment to building a strong climate resilient and green economy. 
When to Apply 
Currently, there is no call for proposal opened for public institutions.

CIVIL SOCIETY

The Rwanda green Fund provides grant to civil society to implement green projects that have the potential for transformative change and that align with Rwanda’s commitment to building a strong climate resilient and green economy.

When to Apply

 The call for proposal for civil society is closed for submitting proposal to FENERWA.

PRIVATE SECTOR

The Rwanda green Fund provides innovation grant and credit line to private sector to respond to Environment and Climate Change related challenges facing Rwanda as well as the aspiration to have green growth path to development. 

The credit line, a subsidized loan facility, provided by the Fund and administered by the Rwanda Development Bank provides funding to transformative projects that will demonstrate clear impact in achieving national and sectoral priorities.

They must be backed by a business model with sound underlying fundamentals to manage risk and deliver returns.

When to Apply

A call for proposal to access credit line is open for private sector.

HOW TO APPLY

  • PPD forms are sub­mit­ted on-line through FONERWA website during the public call for proposal. The fund does not receive hard-copy versions of Project Document Profiles and soft copies submitted through e-mail. 
  • The First-time applicant is required to create the account through the website.
  • The website allows an existing applicant to use their login information for submission.

Learn how to develop Project Profile Document (PPD) known as project concept note through the  PPD Online Course.

GUIDELINES

  • PPD online course is designed to support applicants with information on the first phase of submitting a proposal to the fund.Additional national key documents are provided for further reading to understand the priorities of the Fund and Environment and climate change sector.
  • Download the  Project Profile Document development materials. The objective of the materials is to provide guidance on PPD development. The materials include Project Profile Document (PPD) Template, PPD worked example, and Fund Monitoring and Evaluation Results Matrix. Any PPD must align with the Fund’s results matrix. The offline PPD template is intended to help applicants to develop their project concept.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Line Ministries/private sector/civil society should complete Project Profile Documents (PPDs) for proposals to be considered by the FONERWA Secretariat, in conformity with FONERWA Thematic Financing Windows/ key entry points.
 Project Profile Document development materials

PPDs will be screened by the Fund Management Team against eligibility criteria.

PPD Eligibility Criteria

  • Results based, aligns with thematic windows/entry points and FONERWA M&E framework
  • Benefits sustained beyond lifetime of project activities
  • Demonstrates value for money
  • Involves ongoing stakeholder consultation
  • Promotes strategic national/international environment/climate objectives
  • Conforms with existing legislation and anti-corruption provisions

Screened PPDs are then categorized as green, High Amber, Amber and Red based on their quality in meeting the eligibility criteria.

PPDs that are considered high quality proposals (green) are subjected to quality assurance, a process that determines which green PPDs proceed to the next step of developing full project proposals.

If successful, applicants will be asked to submit a full project document, and technical assistance (TA) and support from the Fund Management Team to elaborate or improve the proposal will be provided as needed.
 Project Document development materials

Full proposals will undergo a technical appraisal by the Fund Management Team. The team will assess each PD according to four overall technical appraisal criteria, each with detailed sub-criteria, and assign a priority ranking for submission to the FONERWA Technical Committee.

Technical Appraisal Criteria

  • Desirability
  • Viability
  • Feasibility
  • Capacity to leverage additional resources

Following proposal review at the Technical Appraisal step, the FONERWA Fund Technical Committee will review the appraised proposals aand ensure that those recommended for funding to the Fund Managing Committee (FMC) are high quality and strategic in terms of how proposals are aligned with national priorities. Suggested project rankings will be further discussed at this stage before their submission to the FONERWA Fund Managing Committee for funding decisions.

The FONERWA Fung Managing Committee will be solely responsible for approval of final funding decisions. This will be based on recommendations at the various review levels of the Project Profile Document (PPD) & Project Document (PD).
 

GUIDELINE FOR FIRST TIME APPLICANT