Enabling Access to Sustainable Energy

Project details

010 Capacity building support for TaTEDO and partners

Project partner

TaTEDO Tanzania

Project status

on-going

Project description

Access to energy is constrained by a number of factors at different levels of intervention. At the end users level, factors limiting access include that of low income, lack of financing as well as lack of awareness. On the entrepreneurs/suppliers side, lack of capital, lack of technical competencies and entrepreneurial skills are the limiting factors. At the higher levels, there is institutional gap or weakness in providing the required entrepreneurial skills and continues coaching to energy entrepreneurs so as to successful undertake their energy businesses. Furthermore, the issue of knowledge management including the whole process of capturing lessons and experiences, processing, packaging and sharing/disseminating them is yet to be developed internally and among entrepreneurs. All these need interventions so as to ensure energy access to majority of rural households and therefore contribute to poverty reduction.

The general objective of this project is to build capacity of TaTEDO staff and her partners in providing technical and business support to energy entrepreneurs. Specifically the project aims at the following.

Coach TaTEDO staff on business coaching so that the team can continuously conduct coaching to energy entrepreneurs participating in TaTEDO’s projects.
Improve TaTEDO’s capacity in information collection, processing, packaging and sharing so that the experiences and lessons through this programme will be used by other energy entrepreneurs to develop their business.

Successfully commercialization of renewable energy products depends very much on the ability of entrepreneurs to conduct the energy businesses competitively. However energy entrepreneurs lack knowledge on how to run and manage their businesses. This includes the business aspects of market promotion, customer care, pricing, cash flow management etc. There is a need therefore to build entrepreneurs capacity on running and managing their energy enterprises through training and continuous coaching.

Currently practical experience with coaching energy entrepreneurs is weak and needs to be developed by doing. The prospective EASE coaches need support from BDC coaches for the business coaching so as to be able to transfer these skills to the entrepreneurs. EASE coaches will be able to provide added value to entrepreneurs that will enable market development of energy products. The final aim of the programme is to have a staff member of TaTEDO in the district energy teams who will be coached by an EASE coach from the head or zone office in providing coaching to energy entrepreneurs. During the first year of the programme this coaching on district level will be given by external Business Development Support Specialists, with intention of building the capacity of the TaTEDO staff in the district energy teams to take over this role in the years 2009 and 2010.

Learning questions

Deliverables

Tools and strategy for coaching energy entrepreneurs
Coaching reports and number of entrepreneurs received coaching
Report of the trainings provided by the consultant
Copies of the material developed in packages
EASE annual NAB meeting report
Updated website and copies of newsletter produced