Enterprise Development Services offered to Mwanza PV dealers

The project has conducted Business Development Services (EDS) training workshop to 7 Mwanza PV dealers in Business planning skills. The workshop took place in Mwanza town from 24th-28th October 2005.

The training objectives were to provide Mwanza Solar PV entrepreneurs with knowledge on solar PV business environment and a practical approach to energy business planning that can assist them to get financing. This in turn would enable them understand what it entails to finance and access finance for Solar PV businesses and various existing energy financing options and institutions through sharing experience with African Rural Energy Enterprise Development Services (AREED) Project, a UNEP initiative.

The AREED approach offers rural energy entrepreneurs a combination of enterprise development services and start-up financing. Integrated financial and technical supports allows entrepreneurs to plan and structure their companies in a manner that prepares them for growth and makes eventual investment by mainstream financial partners less risky.

The need for EDS training follows limited success of the PV business in the area which is attributed by inadequate capital to stock equipment, weak business planning and promotion capabilities and lack of awareness on the market potential of the technology and technically trained manpower.

Expected long term outcome of the workshop will be improved participants ability to prepare quality business plans that meet investment criteria not only to specialized Renewable Energy financial institutions and investors but also to local and international financial institutions to ultimately create sustainable energy service companies.

Sustainable energy service companies entail commercial solar PV enterprises without a grant component. This is possible when entrepreneurs are able to identify opportunities, able to change these opportunities into marketable ideas, put it in a paper in a form of a business plan that can be honored infront of any reliable investor and/or financial institutions for financial assistance.

Mwanza PV dealers participating in the EDS training workshop.