Contract

Contract conditions for granting subsidies through the WIDU Platform (https://widu.africa)

1.

The WIDU online platform is operated by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (‘GIZ’). These contract conditions apply to subsidies that are issued through the WIDU Platform. The Subsidy Provider is always GIZ; Grant Recipients (‘Recipients’) are natural or legal persons in participating African countries who are registered on the ‘WIDU Platform’ with a verified identity, have accepted these contract conditions, and have submitted a project proposal that has been approved by the GIZ programme team (PN 2018.2201.4). To the extent that ‘WIDU’ is used in the following, WIDU has a legal relationship with GIZ as the Subsidy Provider. The terms and conditions for users of the WIDU Platform and the rules on data protection apply in addition to these contract conditions.

2.

The subsidy shall be granted in the form of a disbursement for the relevant WIDU support project that can unambiguously be attributed to the Recipient on the basis of the WIDU Project ID for the support period. The support period shall be at least seven days and not more than six months from when the Recipient registers on the platform.

For the Original WIDU Grant, the subsidy shall be provided, following a grant decision taken by GIZ on the basis of the investment payments effectively made and documented by the Recipient in participating African countries and the diaspora donors in participating European countries, to the amount of at least EUR 250 and not more than EUR 2,500 in total based on a verification of the mini business plan submitted, the user’s identity and the quality of the digital receipts. Expenditures made outside the support period are not eligible for subsidy. The subsidy shall be paid in a ratio of 1 to 1 to the investment payment that has been documented by the Recipient and paid in equal parts by the Recipient and the diaspora donor. Investment payments by the Recipient and the diaspora donor that are each less than EUR 125, i.e. that are less than EUR 250 when added together, cannot be taken into account.

The subsidy shall be paid to the Recipient’s mobile banking number, to the Recipient’s personal bank account, or as a personal payment to the Recipient in the form of cash or cheque by a GIZ office.

The subsidy is intended exclusively for payment of the measures described on the WIDU platform and approved by GIZ.

For the Corona Business Grant, which was introduced in the course of the Corona pandemic, no proof of prior investment payment from the grant Recipient in participating African countries or diaspora donor in participating European countries is required. The prerequisite is that the company has already existed for at least one year, thus, previous investments are presumed. Additionally, the project proposal must contain a clear and comprehensible reference to the corona response. All other requirements and conditions remain unchanged.

For the Local Call subsidy, no proven investment by the diaspora is required. The disbursement decision is taken by GIZ on the basis of the investment payments effectively made and documented by the Recipient in a participating African country, to the amount of at least EUR 500 and not more than EUR 2,000 in total based on a verification of the mini business plan submitted. The subsidy shall be paid in a ratio of 1 to 2.5 to the investment payment that has been documented by the Recipient. The maximum subsidy amount is EUR 5,000. Each Local Call focusses on a thematic area that must be central to the Recipient’s business purpose. After approval by GIZ, 90 % of the Local Call subsidy will be disbursed. The remaining 10 % shall be disbursed once the 90% have been documented with receipts on the platform. The remaining 10% cover administration costs of the supported business and thus require no further documentation.

All other requirements and conditions remain unchanged.

3.

Upon application for the subsidy and submission of all necessary documents by the Recipient, GIZ shall decide at its sole discretion whether to approve the subsidy, taking account of the development policy objectives of WIDU. The following mandatory criteria must be met before a decision on the subsidy is made:

1. The business and the project meet the following formal requirements:

• documented existence and identification of users and key project elements as presented in the project proposal on the platform.
• evidence of support transactions from diaspora donors in the form of digital receipts for the Original WIDU Grant.
• evidence of investments undertaken by the Recipient in the form of digital receipts for Original WIDU Grant and Local Call.

2. GIZ shall determine:

• the amount of the investment payments by the Recipient and the diaspora donor for the Original WIDU Grant
• The amount of Investment payment by the Recipient for the Local Call

GIZ may use the services of third parties for this purpose.

3. WIDU’s sanctions list check shows no results.

4. The Recipient’s business employs fewer than 20 persons.

5. GIZ deems the project worthy of support in the sense that it directly promotes development cooperation.

The Contract shall come into effect following a positive grant decision by GIZ through the payment of the subsidy to the Recipient. The subsidy is provided as an advance payment for the remaining measures described in the investment plan.

4.

The Recipient shall provide evidence that the funds provided have been used for the stipulated purpose by uploading to the WIDU Platform a brief report and the following documentation:

a) photos;

b) an internally generated and personally confirmed online schedule of expenditures (‘investment plan’);

c) commercial invoices, evidence that services have been performed and payments made and/or receivables record sheets, which the Recipient has checked and signed as factually correct, within the defined support period if they exceed the sum of EUR 200. The Recipient shall keep these original documents for two years after the end of the support.

The Recipient shall provide GIZ with a brief digital report about the full utilisation of the subsidy amount and work performed no earlier than two weeks after disbursement of the subsidy and no later than four months thereafter by uploading it to the platform.

5.

The Recipient shall not make available, neither directly nor indirectly, any funds or other economic resources from the GIZ subsidy to third parties that are on a sanctions list of the United Nations and/or the EU. In the framework of this subsidised project, the Recipient may enter into contractual or business relations and maintain such relations only with third parties that are reliable and to whom no statutory ban on doing business or entering into contracts applies. Furthermore, the Recipient shall comply with any embargoes or any other trade restrictions issued by the United Nations, the EU, and the Federal Republic of Germany in the framework of implementation of this subsidised project.

6.

Force majeure is an unavoidable event (e. g. natural disaster, outbreak of disease or epidemic, serious unrest, war or terrorism) that no human foresight or experience could anticipate, that cannot be evaded or overcome applying reasonable efforts and utmost care and that constitutes an impediment to GIZ and/or the Recipient fulfilling their contractual obligations. Neither GIZ nor the Recipient shall be liable for failing to perform their obligations arising from this contract if they are impeded by force majeure in the fulfilment of such obligations, provided that the party affected by such an event has taken all appropriate precautionary measures, due care and appropriate alternative measures with the aim of fulfilling its obligations under this contract to the extent possible. Any party affected by an event as defined in this section must give notice to the other party of the impediment and its effect on its ability to perform as soon as possible.

7.

GIZ may withdraw from this Contract if

  a. the Federal Republic of Germany withdraws its commission to GIZ or substantively modifies it;

  b. GIZ believes that the proper use of the funds is not ensured;

  c. GIZ believes that the support objectives of the measure are not achievable;

  d. the Recipient violates the obligations laid out in this Contract or fails to meet other essential obligations in connection with WIDU;

  e. the Recipient does not provide evidence of the proper use of the subsidy up to the end of the support period;

  f. the Recipient reverses or refunds the investment payments that the Recipient and the diaspora donor have made which serve as the basis for the subsidy granted through the WIDU Platform;

  g. the evidence of use contains incorrect information to a significant extent;

  h. the prerequisites for entering into the Contract subsequently cease to apply or

  i. the Recipient has provided incorrect information about significant facts or has failed to disclose such facts before entering into the Contract.

Payment of the subsidy shall be ceased upon withdrawal. Payments that have already been made must be repaid to GIZ – in the cases of Sections 7 a. to d., however, only if the subsidy cannot be demonstrated to have been used for the intended expenditures before the time that the respective reason for withdrawal arose.

If the subsidy is not or is no longer used for the intended purpose, the Recipient shall be obliged to repay the subsidy, or the part concerned to GIZ without delay.

If procured objects are not or are no longer used for the intended purpose, the Subsidy Provider may demand repayment of the subsidy amount concerned.

The Recipient is required to immediately inform GIZ when it is no longer possible to achieve the project objective as indicated in the project description, when there is a risk of not achieving it, or when minimum standards are not met (anymore).

8.

The Subsidy Contract and, hence, the project is successfully completed when the subsidy has demonstrably been used for the measures specified in the investment plan and the GIZ programme team declares the project completed. A Recipient may receive up to three consecutive subsidies (Original WIDU Grant) in total. In addition, the Recipient can receive one Corona Business Grant and one Local Call subsidy.

9.

The place of jurisdiction is Frankfurt am Main, Germany. GIZ may also institute proceedings against the Recipient before the competent court for the Recipient’s place of residence or place of business or habitual place of residence.