Presenter : Abdoul Karim Dosso

1. 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

2. 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.
2
› 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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6.  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

7. Project Area

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. Partnership with Total/PERACOD

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. • 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

17. National Partners
Donors
International Partners

18. 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