SADC Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship Support Facility, First Training Workshop
IRENA in partnership with the SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency is implementing the SADC Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship Support Facility to support renewable energy market development in Southern Africa. The Facility serves as a technical support and mentorship platform to address some of the challenges experienced renewable energy entrepreneurs, specifically, to enhance and strengthen the capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in assessing the business potentials of sustainable energy, developing viable business plans and loan requests, managing and maintaining their businesses successfully. Furthermore, the Facility also aims to increase the confidence of financial institutions in sustainable energy systems and create linkages between the entrepreneurs and financial institutions.
As part of the implementation of the SADC Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship Support Facility, the first training workshop were jointly organised by IRENA and SACREEE from 11 November 2020 to 2 December 2020 virtually. The training focused on commercial aspects and consist of lectures, case studies and interactive sessions. The modules and timelines are as follows:
- Record Keeping for Energy Business and Preparation of Financial Reports (11 -13 November);
- Team Management (16 -18 November);
- Basics of Renewable Energy and Business Models for Renewable Energy (19 November);
- Marketing for SME Renewable Energy Businesses (23 – 24 November);
- Renewable Energy Finance and Risk management (25 November); and
- Businesses Plan Development (30 Nov – 2 Dec).
The expected outcome was to impart SMEs with invaluable information and tools for upscaling their renewable energy businesses.