1. ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible, project proposals must meet the following requirements:
- Projects must involve at least two partners: one must act as lead partner and the other(s) as co-applicant(s).
- The lead partner must be legally established, for at least three years, in one of the eight target countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe) and be active in the cultural and creative industries (CCI) sector[See note 1].
- The co-applicant(s) may be legally established in an African country, other than those listed above, or a member country of the OACP or the European Union.
- The lead partner must have directly implemented at least one project in the cultural and creative sectors over the last three years, amounting to at least 50% of the grant amount requested and must have been directly responsible for the preparation and management of the funded activities.
- For proposals where the amount of European funds requested is higher than EUR 70.000, the lead partner will have to present the annual accounts for the years 2020 and 2021 audited or with a receipt of presentation to the competent tax authorities.
- The lead partner must certify that the organisation and its representative have no outstanding social security or financial obligations (See document « Third party declaration »).
- The co-applicant(s) may be organization(s) that is/are not legally established in duly justified cases and if their existence can be proven (e.g. cultural and artistic groups having implemented activities).
2. TERMS
The project should last between 12 and 24 months and should be implemented between September 1, 2022 and August 30, 2024. Project proposals can be written in French, Spanish, English or Portuguese. The following is a non-exhaustive list of activities for which an application may be submitted. The request may relate to one or more axes:
Axis 1: Projects aimed at enhancing the creation and production of cultural goods and services, as well as increasing their quantity and quality.
- Support for arts education institutions (including new communication technologies), on-the-job training, college apprenticeship, online learning.
- Support given to cultural projects concerning isolated areas and disadvantaged groups, hand in hand with support for beneficiaries (primarily local culture players of a smaller scope, reaching young audiences and isolated parts of countries, in particular public local cultural organisations).
- Support for tangible and intangible cultural heritage (production and circulation of exhibitions, mediation activities facilitating access to sites and/or collections for new audiences, including through multimedia technologies, documentation, information, and awareness-raising activities on heritage).
- Support for production and/or development of cultural creations aimed at encouraging access to a diverse range of cultural expressions and cross-cultural understanding:
- Creation of cooperation networks at local, regional and international levels to identify and share best practices and knowledge ;
- Development of media initiatives, including their dissemination on the internet and on social media, or radio or television broadcasts.
- Support given to markets via festivals, television stations and/or platforms that broadcast a quota of local films, galleries, performance halls, exhibition halls.
- Support for developing online distribution and websites aimed at boosting the value of works (audiovisual, fashion, design, crafts, visual arts, heritage, etc.).
- Support for broadcasting/screening works on the internet, on local and national television channels, in cultural and/or youth centres, in schools, including in rural and isolated areas, etc.
- Support for promoting use of new audiovisual technologies among young people, among others.
- Support for dubbing and subtitling in local and/or foreign languages, developing applications (cross-media) aimed at disseminating cultural content on tablets and mobile telephones.
- Support for building professional capacities and skills to better adapt to international markets (e.g.: administrative, creative and marketing skills ; professional and technical training to strengthen links with the private sector ; support for knowledge transfer, etc.).
- Support for developing and/or engaging new audiences and for cultural education, particularly aimed at youth audiences, including those who are excluded.
- Support for actions promoting visual image education, in particular for youth and women, and encouraging visual image education on public school syllabuses.
- Support for actions promoting digital transition as part of visual image education, artistic education and cultural education actions.
- Support for developing educational, artistic, cultural and digital partnerships between schools, cultural institutions and digital spaces, as well as cross-sectoral projects.
- Contribute to increasing cultural operators' access to markets (local, regional and international) and attract investors through:
- Support given to creators and/or artists by providing them with advice, tools, and resources to start up their own business (video games, animated films, platforms, creation, design, web content).
- Support given to existing companies by developing relationships with impact, venture and other innovative funds that enable access to working capital and growth.
- Support for research and/or improving access to financing mechanisms and innovative technological approaches.
3. FINANCING PROVISION
For any grant requested under this call for proposals, the amount must be between a minimum of EUR 35,000.00 and a maximum of EUR 100,000.00[See note 2]. The indicative amount available for this call for proposals is EUR 1,175,000[See note 3]. The grants will cover up to 80% of the total eligible project costs. In duly justified exceptional cases, the contribution may cover up to 95% of the total eligible project costs.
ELIGIBLE COSTS
- Staff costs
- Travel costs
- Daily subsistence allowances, within the ceilings set by the European Union[See note 4].
- Professional fees of experts
- The cost of purchasing equipment needed to perform the action (limited to 30% of the total eligible direct costs for which EU funding is requested)
- The cost of supplies and materials
- Costs related directly to project implementation requirements (information dissemination, translation, documentation, printing and distributing leaflets, etc.)
- Rental of venues and equipment related to the project.
- Mobility grants
- The cost of the assessment
- The cost of the external audit (this cost will be covered separately by the Créer en Afrique centrale project and must not exceed EUR 2.700)
Eligible indirect costs are overheads incurred in connection with the beneficiaries' operating and general activities: they are not fully attributed to implementation of the project but are always partially connected to it (e.g. costs related to infrastructure, legal advice, documentation, IT, office supplies, communication, etc.). These costs are limited to a flat rate of 7% of the total eligible direct costs for the action.
NON ELIGIBLE COSTS
- Debt and debt service charges (interest)
- Provisions for losses, debts or possible future debts
- Costs declared by the beneficiary(ies) in the framework of another action or programme receiving a grant financed from the Union budget (including through the EDF)
- Purchase of land or buildings
- Exchange losses
- Loans to third parties
- Contributions in kind (with the exception of voluntary work)
- Salaries of national authorities staff
- Performance bonuses included in staff costs
- Office rental
4. CONTRACT AND TERMS OF PAYMENT
The contracting party will sign a contract with the grant beneficiary. The contract will include details of the activities to be implemented, the contractual value, terms of payment and reporting obligations. Please note that reports should be submitted in French only.
The Créer en Afrique centrale project consortium will directly manage 10% of the grant awarded. This percentage will be allocated entirely to mobility, i.e., networking and training events in Africa and/or other countries that at least one representative of the beneficiary must attend during the implementation of the project.
All payments shall be made by bank transfer to the bank account in the name of the lead partner.
5. APPROXIMATE TIMETABLE
| EVALUATION PROCESS | DATE | HOUR |
|---|---|---|
|
Call for applications for the year 2022 |
March 2022 | |
| Deadline for questions submission | 13 May | |
| Publication of frequently asked questions (FAQ) | 20 May | |
| 1st online information session | 28 April (Click here to register) | 11.00 AM (Brussels time) |
| 2nd online information session | 12 May (Click here to register) | 11.00 AM (Brussels time) |
| Deadline for applications | 6 June | 11.59 PM (Brussels time) |
| Review stage | June/July 2022 | |
| Publication of results | August 2022 | |
| Contracting and first disbursement | September 2022 |
[1] The following is a non-exhaustive list of eligible organisation types: companies in the various for-profit CCI sectors (including SMEs/SMIs, cooperatives, social and solidarity economy (SSE)) and CSOs in the CCI; public and private cultural and artistic institutions; public and private training centres; chambers of commerce and trades; public administrations (local, national, regional) responsible in particular for culture, employment, vocational training, business development, and trade.
[2] Applicants must pay particular attention to adapting the amount of the financial request to the local context, to the nature of the actions, to the diversity of the local needs to be addressed to their average budget over the last 4 financial years, in particular with regard to the evaluation criteria of the project and its technical and financial viability.
[3] Créer en Afrique centrale reserves the right not to allocate all available funds if the applications submitted do not meet the selection criteria.
[4] https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/system/files/per-diem-rates-20200201_en.pdf