Grants before debt: how develoPPP co-funding actually works
Public co-funding reduces how much debt a project has to raise later, which is why a funding map looks at programmes before it looks at lenders. develoPPP is the German programme in that field, and it is widely misunderstood, starting with the question of who may apply.
What develoPPP is
develoPPP is a programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, run through DEG Impulse and GIZ. It co-funds business projects that combine a commercial interest with a development benefit in countries like Ghana.
The Classic track carries up to EUR 2 million in public funding, capped at half of the total project cost. Decisions run through regular idea competitions, and the company carries at least the other half itself.
Who can actually apply
Applicants must be companies headquartered in the EU, EFTA or a country on the OECD DAC list, with a long-term business interest in the market. Ghana is on that list, so a Ghanaian company can apply in its own name. The harder hurdle is size: the Classic track asks for at least eight employees, an annual turnover of EUR 800,000 or more, and two audited annual financial statements.
Which side should carry the application depends on the file. A European counterpart, whether importer, offtaker or joint-venture partner, may bring the scale and the track record an idea competition weighs, and the project is then built around the corridor between the two. That question is one of the first a funding map settles.
The Ventures track
develoPPP Ventures adds an early-stage route: a public investment of EUR 100,000 on a matching-funds model, aimed at young companies with an innovative business model in developing and emerging markets. The company raises the same amount itself, and the public money doubles it.
Why grants come first on the staircase
Every euro of co-funding reduces the debt a project needs to raise afterwards, and a completed develoPPP project is evidence the next lender reads. That is why our financing work starts by mapping programmes on both sides of the corridor before any loan file is opened.
For a venture in Ghana the practical first step is not an application form. It is the question of who should carry one: the venture itself, or the European partner who shares enough of the project to apply.
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