GVEP is helping small energy businesses to grow in order to expand energy access in developing countries. We develop and manage various programmes to support the growth of these enterprises by providing them with business and technical advice, as well as helping them access capital.
Find out more about our programmes :
In low-income countries, access to finance and lack of capital are a major constraint to the growth of micro, small and medium sized enterprises.
The CARE2 programme aims to improve capital access in the renewable energy markets of four East African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.
This $7 million facility is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
Starting in September 2012, this 3-year programme consists in a combination of interventions designed to increase both the supply of capital to businesses, and their capacity to deploy that capital effectively.
CARE2 comprises of a Business Support Team providing advice to businesses seeking capital, as well as an extension of our Loan Guarantee activities and several sector-focused enterprise development projects. This programme will focus heavily on women as one of its priorities is to address gender issues.
GVEP is one of the lead members of the consortium selected by the World Bank to set up and run the world’s first Climate Innovation Centre (CIC) in Nairobi, Kenya.This $10 million initiative will provide business incubation services and early stage capital to young business in the renewable energy and climate adaptation space in East Africa.
The centre will also provide business and technical advice and services, access to facilities and small start-up grants, as well as access to seed capital investment.
Launched on 26th September 2012, the Kenya CIC is hosted by the Strathmore Business School, in collaboration with GVEP, PwC and the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI). The Kenya CIC is supported by infoDev (World Bank) in partnership with the Danish and British (via UKAid) governments. It’ll be seeded by a contribution of $15 million over five years.
The Supporting Energy SMEs Project is a $30 million programme funded by the Russian government, managed through the World Bank, and covering Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Senegal.
Our activities include: assisting developers of mini-grids and small hydro systems to finance and deliver their projects, supporting the development of the solar PV market, and providing capacity building and technical assistance to government agencies.
In Senegal the use of energy that enhances people’s productivity and economic activities is the specific focus.
In many Senegalese villages young people move to the capital, Dakar, to seek work, but supplying energy to tourist facilities is helping to address this problem in one village. Two tourist camps use the electricity to power lights, ventilators and modern facilities, and so attract more visitors, which in turn means they employ more local young people. Improving the provision of energy enhances productivity and boosts economic activity. 
Through the DEEP programme, GVEP developed a sustainable and widespread industry of micro and small energy enterprises. Spanning five years, the Developing Energy Enterprises Project (DEEP) started in March 2008 and ended in February 2013. This €4 million initiative was supported by the European Union and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS). It aimed to deliver energy access to 1.8 million people in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. This target was substantially exceeded as it reached over four million beneficiaries by the end of the programme.
Over 900 micro and small energy enterprises (MSEEs) were supported by DEEP. These businesses were involved in the manufacture and/or supply of clean cookstoves, solar PV products and services, clean fuel briquettes and biogas systems. GVEP provided them with mentoring, training and support services covering: product quality and technical issues, business and sales skills, access to finance and access to business networks. These entrepreneurs work at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) in rural and periurban areas. The products and services they offer have contributed to provide an improved access to clean energy solutions for low-income customers in these communities. This programme created approximately 3,000 jobs in the region.
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