Scaling up energy access thro augh

Women’s Economic Empowerment

Presented by Abdoul Karim Dosso

Smart Villages, West Africa Regional

Workshop May 23-May 25,2016

Mensvic Grand Hotel, Lome Street, Accra, Ghanna

GVEP Overview GVEP International

› Mission: Providing support to businesses working to accelerate access to energy in developing countries.

› Value Proposition: Sustainable businesses are longer lasting than the effects of direct donations.

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› Impact: Supported 268 SMEs and 2,800 micro-enterprises that have raise $86m of capital, created 7,800 local jobs, avoided 8m tonnes of CO2 and provided over 10m people with improved access to energy.

› Background: Launched in 2002 as a World Bank initiative; spun-out as an NGO in 2006. Current headcount of 80.

› Locations: HQ in London (UK); field offices in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda), Senegal, and Barbados.

ENERGIA: International Network

on Gender and Sustainable Energy

• International network set up in 1996

• Creating an institutional base for mainstreaming gender into the energy sector in developing countries

• Members in 22 countries

• Ongoing programmes in 12 countries in Africa and Asia

Women’s Economic Empowerment (WE) Programme

Scales up proven business models that strengthen

capacity of women led MSEs to deliver energy

services;

Provides funding and technical support to partner

organisations in Africa and Asia;

Between 2012-2017;

In collaboration with NGOs and Social Enterprises;

In Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, Uganda, Nigeria,

Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan

3,000 women led MSEs will deliver energy products and services to 2,000,000 consumers

Expanding Energy Access through

Women’s Economic Empowerment (WE)

•REACH Women’s enterprises can play a crucial role in scaling up energy access

•SCALE Women are the world’s

third-largest “emerging market” after China and India

• IMPACT Investing in women’s

economic empowerment sets a path towards gender equality, poverty reduction and inclusive economic development

Empower women to compete in

energy markets

Build instituti

onal capacity

to impleme

nt WE approach

Scale up energy

access for the last

mile

Expected Impact: Improve access to energy to 218,754 people in rural areas; entrepreneurship

development of 10,797 women, Increased income for about 97,173 households in rural Senegal

Specific objective: To support the development and growth of 250 women groups/enterprises

(48 women/group) and to increase productive use of energy by women across the value chain. o About 150 involved in the sale of stand-alone solar products and improved cookstoves, o 100 will be supported in productive use of energy, mainly in the agriculture and processing sector

(such as processing unit, chicken breeding, grinding, cooling, tailors).

Core Partners: GVEP, in partnership with SEM Fund and co-funded by ENERGIA

Time frame: 3 yrs (Jan 2014 – Aug 2017)

Budget: € 795,000

Project Area

Characteristics of Project Area

Very low access to electricity: 9% Tambacounda & 4% Kedougou. Penetration of improved cookstoves is less than 4% in rural areas in Senegal

A high level of poverty: 56.2% in Tambacounda, and 60% in Kedougou, against national average of 40% in urban areas

Low awareness of solar products and their economic benefits, no alternative energy source, resulting in most people using kerosene/candles for lighting, which are expensive, polluting and hazardous

Most consumers/business cannot afford to buy the products upfront.

The high cost of distributing the products has led suppliers of solar/ICS to focus their distribution activity in urban/suburban areas, not in Tambacounda & Kedougou

SEM has a network of 1300 women groups in the target region, but lack of business and technical expertise and limited access to capital obstruct growth of business

The programme targets 65 % of the population in the target region and hence will fill a major gap

The WE approach

Challenges to growth

• Scale of operations/growth

• Access to finance

• Limited links to markets

• Time poverty and mobility

• Awareness/information

WE Strategies

• Recruit-train-mentor

• Capacity building (business, technical, leadership, agency)

• Access to finance (loan guarantee funds, microcredit)

• Marketing and distribution

• Building on local partners and networks

An integrated enterprise support package addressing specific bottlenecks to growth

Facilitate innovative partnerships to financing last mile delivery by WE through commercial

partnerships with suppliers

TOTAL Awango: MOU with GVEP

• Deliver 14,057 Lighting Africa certified solar lamps (+ mobile phone charging) in 2 years with a 2 year warranty

• 75 women enterprises distribute solar products to 126,513 consumers by end of project

• Sale on Credit: 25% up-front paid by WE and 75% to be paid by WE within 60 days

• Average profits for WE: $ 1.53/lamp for S20 models & 4.59 for S300 model GVEP Guarantee= 100% of the 75% on credit

• TOTAL Awango promotes solar products though marketing events

GIZ-PERACOD: MOU with GVEP • Linkages between two certified ICS

manufacturers to deliver 10,249 improved cook stoves in 2-year with a 1 year warranty

• 75 women enterprises distribute ICS to 92,241 consumers by end of year 2

• Sales on credit: 50% up-front cost (financed 25% by WE and 25% advance payment by GVEP) , 75% to be repaid by WE within 60 days credit revolving 25%

• Average profits for WE: $ 3.82/ICS sold • Peracod promotes ICS through marketing

events & conduct quality control checks to ensure the ICS manufacturers meet their engagements with women

Partnership with Total/PERACOD

MoU with OIKOCREDIT and PAMIGA to establish to lower interest rates from 18%-15% today to 8%-5% to support WE to take affordable loans to purchase energy equipment for productive uses. Caurie Micro Finance will set up a credit line amounted to 300 000 euros in order to support WE.

Partnership for enabling access to finance for women in productive uses

Other partnerships to enhance support to WE

PAPIL (Support Project for Small Local Irrigation) and ANCAR (the National Agency of Rural Council Agriculture

Objective: provide complementary expertise to the team in productive use of energy related to agriculture:

o Technical training that is appropriate and tailored to women in the agri sector.

o GVEP provides technical expertise on appropriate energy solutions in agriculture

o PAPIL and ANCAR provide technical expertise in agriculture, irrigation and product transformation that is complementary to the energy expertise provided by GVEP.

Impact: complete range of inputs available to the WEs, enhance project sustainability , strengthen synergies with local programmes, knowledge sharing and transfer at local level

WE Programme: Immediate Results Working with 224 enterprises and/or groups women in

Senegal

671 ICS were ordered by entrepreneurs in march 2016 and 244 sold at the end of march by the supplier on March 8, 2016 through a market development event.

1,044 solar lamps ordered in February 2016 and 449 were sold at the end of march 2016.

14 619 people have benefit from the sale of product by 71 enterprises and/or groups at the end of march 2016

19 groups are ready to receive production equipment (friges solar) at the beginning of June 2016 though the financial mechanism develop with Caurie MF

At the end of march 2016, 119 companies and / or groups have access to credit enabling them to order 1,410 solar lamps for an amount of 22 018 729 FCFA and 430ICS for a value of 7 317 169 CFA.

WE Programme: Emerging developmental impacts

Women led micro and small enterprises set up and run sustainable energy

businesses

– 224 enterprises and/or groups include 146 in the value chain and 78 in the productive use led

MSMEs working under the programme

– 211 have started receiving mentoring support to strengthen their businesses

– 10,797 women including 7651 in the distribution of solar lamps / ICS and 3146 in productive use

activities will directly benefit from additional income.

– 119 WEs are active decision makers in their businesses and on major households expenditure

– 71 active Wes in value chain maintain separate books of account for their business

– Out of 119 businesses in value chain, 71 have recorded a margin of $ 2,120 after starting of the

distribution in February 2016.

Poor rural populations gain access to clean energy products and services

– 119 women MSEs accessing finance through the financial mechanism with Total and ICS

producers from PERACOD

– 68 859 (considering 9 persons per household ) rural households members (men women and

children) of women working in energy businesses benefitting from increased income.

• Capitalizes on the latent resource of women micro and small entrepreneurs

• Women play a central role in supply chain, as trusted users and promoters of

household and energy products

• Maximizes development gains through partnerships and linkages in the Energy Plus

approach

• Works to strengthen the complete Ecosystem, not technology or finance alone.

Customization, finance facilitation, and continued mentorship are key to the approach

• Uses successful strategies and results at the ground local level for advocating

at national and international levels

• Reaches modern energy services to the un-served and last mile communities

Women can be the key to scaling energy access,

as asset creators, employers and innovators

Value addition of the WE approach

National Partners

Donors

International Partners

For further information see: www.energia.org

or contact:

Soma Dutta

<somadutta2010@gmail.com>

Photo credits: ENERGIA and the WE partners

www.gvepinternational.org or contact:

Abdoul Karim Dosso Abdoul.dosso@gvepinternational.org