Terms of Agreement
User Agreement
Effective as of October 6, 2008
The World Bank Group (“WBG”) is implementing an initiative aimed at providing up to 250
million people in Sub-Saharan Africa with access to non-fossil fuel based, low-cost, safe, and
reliable lighting products with associated basic energy services by the year 2030. This initiative
is known as “Lighting Africa.”
The services offered by WBG and sponsors of Lighting Africa in connection with the Lighting
Africa initiative include this Lighting Africa website (including all country-specific versions
thereof) (collectively, the "Site"), and such other features, content, services or applications as
offered from time to time on or through the Site (collectively, the "Services").
The World Bank Group is comprised of IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development); IDA (International Development Association); IFC (International Finance
Corporation); MIGA (Multilateral Guarantee Agency); and ICSID (International Centre for
Settlement of Investment Disputes).
Please explore the Site and the Services we offer, and when you're ready, we hope you will
register as a member. By registering, you provide us with the information we need to enable you
to become an active participant on the Site and use the Services you register for. You also have
the option to provide additional information to help us customize services and features for your
specific needs.
The following terms constitute an agreement between you the WBG, and the operator of the Site
(the WBG, and site operator, are collectively referred to herein as "we" or "us"). The terms of
use, as they may be amended from time to time ("Terms of Use") govern your use of the Site and
the Services, both as a visitor and as a registered member.
BY USING THE SITE OR ANY OF THE SERVICES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, BY REGISTERING WITH US, YOU SIGNIFY THAT YOU AGREE TO
THESE TERMS OF USE, including that you agree to transact with us electronically, and that
you consent to the information practices disclosed in our Privacy Policy. Please note that we
offer the Services "AS IS" and without warranties.
I. About the Site
The Site contains a range of information and tools relating to Lighting Africa. There are articles,
reports, tools, downloadable forms, photographs, images, and other content ("Content") that we
have written or commissioned from third parties; Content that we have licensed from third
parties; and user submitted content, such as discussion fora (bulletin boards), business
opportunity postings, and other discussion groups. Content submitted by users and other third
parties is not reviewed or verified by us and we are not are responsible for the content or
accuracy of such Content, as further described in Sections XI and XVI below.
II. Registration
In order to register, you will be required to provide some basic information to us about yourself,
such as your email address. During registration you will provide an e-mail address and create a
password. These are your credentials for accessing Services that are only available to registered
members ("Credentials"). You will use your email address to log-in. You will also select a nickname - the name by which you'll be known to other members if you post or otherwise submit or
provide information on the Site, including, without limitation, on bulletin boards. You may not
use a nick-name that is vulgar, attempts to impersonate another person, or violates the rights of
others. The WBG reserves the right to deny in their sole discretion any user access to this Site
or any portion thereof without notice.
III. Your Personal Information
The Privacy Policy explains the information practices that apply to the personal information we
have about you. You consent to the transfer of this information to and within the United States
or other countries for processing and storage by us. Additionally, you agree that we, and vendors
acting on our behalf, may use your Credentials to authenticate you on any Service or the Site.
IV. Your Responsibilities
You are responsible for all use of the Site and Services using your Credentials, including use by
others to whom you have given your Credentials. You are responsible for keeping your
password confidential and for notifying us if your password has been hacked or stolen. You may
notify us if your password has been compromised by using the contact information on the About
Us page. You may use the Site and the Services for lawful purposes only. You must comply
with the Posting Guidelines set forth in Article XII below. You may not use the Site in any
manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair our servers or networks, or interfere
with any other party's use and enjoyment of the Site and Services. You may not attempt to gain
unauthorized access to any Services, user accounts, or computer systems or networks, through
hacking, password mining or any other means. We may take any legal and technical remedies to
prevent the violation of this provision and to enforce these Terms of Use.
V. Limitation on Use of Automated Tools
You may not use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access the Site or
Services for any purpose without our express written permission. You agree not to violate any of
the robot access policies and acknowledge that any violation of the policies may result in
termination of your access to the Site, deactivation or deletion of your registration and all related
information and files you have stored, and preclusion of any further access to such files or the
Site.
VI. Changes to the Services
We may from time to time add new services, substitute a new service for an existing Service, or
discontinue an existing Service. Information about new Services will be included on the Site,
and the use of new services will be governed by these Terms of Use as Services. The WBG
reserves its exclusive rights in their sole discretion to alter, limit or discontinue the Site or any
Service in any respect. The WBG shall have no obligation to take the needs of any user into
consideration in connection therewith.
VII. Changes to the Terms of Use
These Terms of Use govern your relationship with us and our licensors, sponsors, and partners.
Please note that we may change these Terms of Use at any time to reflect changes in the
applicable laws, to address new Services or as we otherwise deem appropriate, by posting a
revised version of the Terms of Use on the Site. If you disagree with any changes to the Terms
of Use, you may discontinue your use of the Services and the Site and cancel your registration.
80324070.1 - 3 -. Your ongoing use of the Services or of the Site after the changes are posted signifies your
agreement to the new terms. We encourage you to review the Terms of Use regularly.
VIII. Links to Other Sites
The Site may include links to other websites. Some of these sites may contain materials that are
objectionable, unlawful, or inaccurate. These links are provided for your convenience only and
do not mean that we endorse these sites or the products and services they provide. You
acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible or liable for the content or accuracy of these
other sites.
IX. Additional Terms
Certain Services on the Site may have additional terms (such as policies, guidelines, and rules)
that will further govern your use of that particular Service and supplement these Terms of Use.
If you choose to register for or access any such Service, you will be presented with any relevant
additional terms and conditions at that time. By using those Services, you agree to comply with
such additional guidelines and rules.
X. No Spam
You may not use contact information provided by our users, or harvest information about our
users, for the purpose of sending, or to facilitate the sending, of unsolicited bulk communications
such as SPAM or SPIM. You may not allow others to use your account to violate the terms of
this section. We may terminate your membership or access to the Site immediately and take
other legal action if you or anyone using your Credentials violates these provisions.
XI. Content You Post or Submit
The Site includes topic-oriented bulletin boards, where registered members can post messages,
information, and images ("Postings"), that can be accessed and viewed by others, as well as
business directory listings, user web pages, and user comments on content items. You are solely
responsible for your Postings. When you submit Postings keep in mind that they are not
confidential. Please be thoughtful with your Postings, and avoid offending others or infringing
their rights. You may only post Postings to bulletin boards on the Site that you created or that
you have permission to post. You may not post Postings that violate these Terms of Use, and we
reserve the right to block your ability to post and/or to access the Site and Services if you do.
You (or the author) continue to own the copyright in your Postings but, by submitting Postings to
the Site, you grant us the right to use, copy, display, perform, distribute (through multiple tiers of
distributors), adapt, translate, edit, and promote your Postings in any medium and any manner we
choose, and to use your display name to attribute your postings to you if we so choose.
Although we reserve the right to do so, we have no obligation to prescreen Postings, and are not
responsible for their content. We encourage you to notify us of inappropriate or illegal content
by using the contact information on the About Us page. Keep in mind that the Postings of others
are simply their opinions and you should not rely on them.
In addition to Postings, you may submit feedback to us. We welcome your feedback regarding
our Site and Services. You agree that we may use in any manner and without limitation all
comments, suggestions, complaints and other feedback you provide relating to the Site or
Services, and that we will own all intellectual property that we create based upon or
incorporating your feedback.
XII. Posting Rules
These rules apply to all content you post to the Site, including text, links, photos and videos. To
help create a positive environment, follow the guidelines below. Be sure to check periodically
for updates to these rules as our community expands.
Do:
• Remember you're in public - the information you post in bulletin boards can be seen by
others.
• Respect others' opinions - if necessary, agree to disagree.
• Behave ethically.
• Stay on topic - to change the subject, go to another topic area or create a new one.
• Use good judgment - stay in good taste.
• Focus on the facts.
• Be fair and informative - include both the pluses and minuses.
Don't:
• Harass, verbally attack or threaten others.
• Pretend to be someone you are not or claim false credentials.
• Post or link to content that is obscene or otherwise objectionable.
• Use the community for any commercial or advertising purposes other than in connection
with the Business Opportunities portion of the Site.
• Post securities information or advice.
• Post content that isn't yours - whether copyrighted or someone's personal material.
• Believe everything you read - postings may be inaccurate.
• Engage in, link to, or promote illegal activities or content.
• Post personal information about someone else unless it's OK with them.
• Get into revert and edit battles on Site pages.
• Disclose the confidential information of others without their consent.
Content posted by users is not verified or fact-checked by us. Although we reserve the right to
do so, we do not at this time edit user-provided content, and we retain the right to remove any
content that we deem inappropriate. Violations of these guidelines could lead to the suspension
or deactivation of your account and all content associated with it.
You understand that all Postings, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted via the
Service, are the sole responsibility of the person who provided such Postings. This means that
you, and not the WBG, are entirely responsible for all Postings that you upload, post, e-mail or
otherwise transmit via the Service.
You understand that by using the Site you may be exposed to third party Postings that is
offensive or objectionable. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL THE WBG BE LIABLE IN
ANY WAY FOR ANY THIRD PARTY CONTENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY POSTINGS, OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE
OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY POSTINGS THAT ARE
POSTED, E-MAILED OR OTHERWISE TRANSMITTED VIA THE SITE. You agree that
you must evaluate, and shall solely bear, all risks associated with use of any Postings, including
any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Postings.
XIII. Your Use of Content
All of the Content (other than Postings) available on or through the Services and/or the Site is
owned by us, our licensors, and our contributors, and is protected by copyright, trademark,
patent, and trade secret laws, other proprietary rights, and international treaties, and also may
have security components that protect digital information. Subject to the terms of this Article
XIII, you may print, download, and store articles and other information for your own
convenience, but you may not (and you may not permit anyone else to) copy, distribute, modify,
exploit, republish (except as permitted in this paragraph), sell, mine, frame, scrape, create a
derivative work of, reverse engineer, decompile or otherwise attempt to extract the source code
of any of the Content (unless this is expressly permitted or required by law). Subject to the terms
of this Article XIII, you may use the tools solely to process your business' data and review and
print the results of such processing. Your use of the Content may be subject to additional
restrictions imposed by our licensors or contributors not set forth in these Terms of Use. You
shall include all appropriate attributions in connection with your use of Content pursuant to these
Terms of Use.
XIV. Linking to this Site
You generally do not need to obtain permission from us to put a text link on your site that links
back to the Site. We request that you notify us of any links you create to our site and we reserve
the right, however, to revoke permission to the link at any time in our sole discretion. If we
revoke such consent, you agree to immediately remove and disable any and all of your links to
the Site. You shall include all appropriate attributions in connection with all links to the Site and
shall not use any link in a manner that is likely to create confusion as to the source of Content.
XV. International Use
If you access the Site and Services from a location outside the U.S., you may be subject to
additional requirements from your jurisdiction, including different requirements set forth in the
policies posted on the country-specific version of the Site. You are responsible for complying
with the laws of all jurisdictions applicable to your use of the Site.
XVI. Information Exchanges and Transactions Between Users
The Site provides discussion fora (bulletin boards), business opportunity postings, and other
discussion groups, which permit information exchanges that may lead to transactions between
users. The WBG does not represent or endorse any user, seller, or buyer in any transaction, and
does not receive any compensation from any transaction. The WBG has no control over--and
have no responsibility or liability for--the accuracy, appropriateness, availability, conformance,
legality, quality, or safety of any information, goods, or services provided by users.
Although members register with the Site, the WBG does not verify or confirm the identity of any
member. As in all your other interactions, you have the sole responsibility for determining the
trustworthiness of the person(s) with whom you are dealing. Transactions over the Internet
expose you to many risks, including that the other party may be acting under false pretenses, the
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goods or services may not exist or may not be accurately described, or you may never receive the
goods or services that you ordered. You agree to accept all risks associated with the use of the
Site and understand that any information posted using the Site may be accessed by third parties
and should not be considered to be secure or protected.
You are solely responsible for all transactions conducted on or as a result of this Site, including
without limitation, payment, shipping and handling, insurance, taxes, fees, import/export
compliance, licenses, and dispute resolution.
Because the WBG has no control over Postings, you agree to look solely to the original
posting party for any claims you may have regarding their information or any transaction.
You specifically acknowledge and agree that the WBG is not liable for any conduct of any
user. If you have a dispute with one or more users, you release the WBG (and its officers,
directors, agents, affiliates, sponsors, joint ventures and employees) from claims, demands
and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown,
arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes. If you are a California resident,
you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: “A general release does not
extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the
time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his
settlement with the debtor.”
XVII. We Make No Warranties
THE SITE AND THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTY
OF ANY KIND. WE AND OUR LICENSORS, SPONSORS, AND PARTNERS HEREBY
DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, ORAL OR WRITTEN, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING AND WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTY OF
MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE DISCLAIMER OF
IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE FOREGOING DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO
YOU. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER LEGAL RIGHTS THAT MAY VARY BY
JURISDICTION. YOU HAVE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR VERIFYING THE
COMPLETENESS AND ACCURACY OF ALL INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE ON
THE SITE. WE DO NOT, AND OUR LICENSORS, SPONSORS, AND PARTNERS DO NOT
WARRANT THAT USE OF THE SITE OR SERVICES WILL BE ERROR-FREE.
INFORMATION, DATA, ADVICE AND OPINIONS MADE AVAILABLE ON THE SITE OR
THROUGH THE SERVICES ARE INTENDED AS A REFERENCE AND FOR
INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE NOT TO BE RELIED UPON. YOU
OUGHT TO CONSULT WITH YOUR ATTORNEY, ACCOUNTANT OR OTHER
BUSINESS ADVISOR FOR ADVICE SPECIFIC TO YOUR BUSINESS.
XVIII. General Limitation of Liability
YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY DISPUTE WITH US OR OUR
LICENSORS, SPONSORS, OR PARTNERS IS THE CANCELLATION OF YOUR
REGISTRATION. IN NO EVENT SHALL WE OR OUR LICENSORS, SPONSORS, OR
PARTNERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF OR
INABILITY TO USE THE SITE AND THE SERVICES. THESE EXCLUSIONS APPLY TO
ANY CLAIMS FOR LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK
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STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY OTHER
COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES, EVEN IF WE KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE
KNOWN OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME STATES OR
JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR THE LIMITATION OF
LIABILITY, IN SUCH STATES OR JURISDICTIONS, OUR LIABILITY, AND THE
LIABILITY OF OUR LICENSORS, SPONSORS, OR PARTNERS SHALL BE LIMITED TO
THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BUT IN NO EVENT SHALL EXCEED $10,000.
XIX. Termination
We may terminate and/or suspend your use of the Services or the Site or registration
immediately, without notice, if there has been a violation of these Terms of Use or other policies
and terms posted on the Site by anyone using your Credentials. We may also cancel or suspend
your registration or member listing, for any other reason, including inactivity for an extended
period, but will attempt to notify you in advance of such cancellation or suspension. Your right
to use the Services will end once your registration is cancelled or terminated, and any data you
have stored on such a Service may be unavailable later, unless we are required to retain it by
law. You may terminate your registration at any time by using the Contact Us information on
the About Us page.
XX. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless us, our employees, contractors, officers,
directors, agents, parent, other affiliated companies, licensors, sponsors, partners, and suppliers,
from all liabilities, claims, and expenses, including attorney's fees, that arise from your use or
misuse of the Site and the Services, including, without limitation your Lighting Africa member
web page. We reserve the right to assume control of the defense of any third party claim that is
subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will cooperate with us in asserting any
available defenses.
XXI. Electronic Contracting and Notices
Your affirmative act of using this Site and/or registering for the Site or Services constitutes your
electronic signature to these Terms of Use and your consent to enter into agreements with us
electronically. You also agree that we may send to you in electronic form any privacy or other
notices, disclosures, reports, documents, communications or other records regarding the Services
(collectively, "Notices"). We can send you electronic Notices (1) to the e-mail address that you
provided to us during registration, or (2) by posting the Notice on the applicable Service or
otherwise through the Site. The delivery of any Notice from us is effective when sent by us,
regardless of whether you read the Notice when you receive it or whether you actually receive
the delivery. You can withdraw your consent to receive Notices electronically by canceling or
discontinuing your use of the applicable Service. You can retrieve an electronic copy and a
printable version of this contract by clicking on the "Terms of Use" link on the Site. All
contracts completed electronically will be deemed for all legal purposes to be in writing and
legally enforceable as a signed writing.
XXII. Licensors’ and Other Third Parties’ Rights
You acknowledge that the provisions of these Terms of Use are intended to inure to the benefit
of our licensors, sponsors, and partners. If you breach any of these Terms of Use, the applicable
licensor, sponsor, or partner will be entitled to enforce these Terms of Use directly against you,
whether in its name or our name.
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XXIII. Entire Agreement
This contract and any supplemental terms, policies, rules and guidelines posted on the Site,
including, without limitation, the Privacy Policy, and the Services constitute the entire agreement
between you and us and supersede all previous written or oral agreements. If any part of these
Terms of Use is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion shall be construed in a manner
consistent with applicable law to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intentions of the
parties, and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver by the WBG
of any provision of this Agreement shall be binding except as set forth in a writing signed by its
duly authorized representative.
XXIV. Choice of Law and Location for Resolving Disputes
These Terms of Use will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of
Washington, D.C., U.S.A. These Terms of Use, at our option, may be enforced against you in
the state or federal courts of New York, the courts of the country in which you reside, or any
other appropriate jurisdiction, or concurrently in more than one jurisdiction. Subject to the
foregoing option, any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use or that
contests the validity of these Terms of Use, shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the
UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules from time to time in force. The place of arbitration shall be New
York, New York and the arbitration shall be conducted in English. The parties hereby waive any
rights under any applicable law to appeal any arbitration award or to seek determination of a
preliminary point of law with respect to such proceedings. Nothing in these Terms of Use and
no submission by us to arbitration shall be construed as a waiver, renunciation or modification of
any immunities, privileges or exemptions accorded to us under its Articles of Agreement,
international convention or any applicable law.
XXV. Assignment
We may assign this contract at any time to our parent, any subsidiary, or any affiliated company,
or as part of the sale to, merger with, or other transfer of our company to another entity. We will
post a notice on the Site regarding any change of ownership so that you have the opportunity to
discontinue your use of the Site or cancel your registration if you do not wish to continue to use
the Site and Services under the new ownership. You may not assign this contract to any one
else.
XXVI. No Agency
Nothing in these Terms of Use will be construed to make us and our licensors, sponsors, or
partners, on the one hand, and you, on the other hand, an agent, employee, joint venturer, partner,
franchisee-franchisor, or legal representative of the other. No party will have or represent itself
to have any authority to bind the other to any obligation.
XXVII. Export Restrictions
You acknowledge that the Lighting Africa Content and all other systems made available on the
Site and all related technical information, documents and materials may be subject to export
controls under the U.S. Export Administration Regulations and similar laws of other
jurisdictions, as well as trade restrictions and sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security
Council in resolutions issued under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. You shall (i) comply strictly
with all legal requirements established under these controls and restrictions, (ii) cooperate fully
with us in any official or unofficial audit or inspection that relates to these controls, and (iii) not
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export, re-export, divert or transfer, directly or indirectly, any such item or direct product thereof
to any country or nation thereof that is embargoed by U.S. law or UN sanctions, unless you have
obtained our prior written authorization and the prior written authorization of the U.S.
Commerce Department. Upon notice, we may modify this section to conform to changes in the
U.S. Export Administration Regulations, UN and other applicable sanctions.
XXVIII. Procedures for Making Claims of Copyright Infringement
We respect the intellectual property of others, and we ask those posting to this Site to do the
same. If you believe that your copyrighted work has been copied and is accessible on this Site
in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by providing our copyright
agent with the following information:
1. The electronic or physical signature of the owner of the copyright or the person authorized to
act on the owner's behalf.
2. A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed and a description of
the infringing activity.
3. Identification of the location where the original or an authorized copy of the copyrighted
work exists, for example the URL of the website where it is posted or the name of the book in
which it has been published.
4. Identification of the URL or other specific location on this Site where the material that you
claim is infringing is located; you must include enough information to allow us to locate the
material.
5. Your name, address, telephone number, and email address so that we may contact you.
6. A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized
by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
7. A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your Notice
is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the copyright owner's
behalf.
Our agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement on this Site can be reached as follows:
Lighting Africa Program Manager
___________________________________________________________________________
If you believe that Content has been taken down improperly, you may provide counternotification
in writing to the designated agent that includes the information below. To be
effective, the counter-notification must be a written communication that includes the following:
1. Your physical or electronic signature;
2. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled, and
the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled


