Executive Brief October 2007

October 2007

The The Executive Update is a briefing on the latest developments in the Lighting Africa project, and is provided to all organizations and individuals participating in the consortium. For comments, questions, or suggestions, please contact the Lighting Africa project team at support@lightingafrica.org

Lighting Africa consortium reaches over 1000 participants, representing over 400 organizations. A growing number of organizations and individuals are joining the project. Participants originate from over 40 countries and are involved in all parts of the supply chain - from component suppliers and product assemblers, to distributors and NGOs that have direct linkages to the off-grid populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. If you would like to take part in the consortium or invite someone to join, please visit the project's Web Portal lightingafrica.org and register to become a Lighting Africa member.

Grant competition (up to $200,000 per proposal) launched in September. The Lighting Africa Development Marketplace grant competition was launched on September 4, and will reward innovative ideas for off-grid lighting solutions for Sub-Saharan Africa. Applications from private businesses, nongovernmental organizations, universities, government entities, and individuals from all over the world are welcome. Eligible proposals include innovative ideas around new clean off-grid lighting products, alternative distribution models, stronger production chains, and improvement of the policy environment. The deadline for submitting a proposal is October 31, 2007. For additional information, visit http://lightingafrica.org/index.cfm?Page=DM or contact the Lighting Africa project team at: support@lightingafrica.org

Since its official launch on September 4, the Lighting Africa Web Portal is home to more than 180 exchanges on business leads and opportunities among participating companies. A growing and active sharing of business leads and partnership opportunities is taking place in the project's Web Portal. Opportunities range from product offerings to partnership formation and distribution services. To view existing opportunities or to share new ones, please visit http://lightingafrica.org

Lighting Africa commences work on the development of performance standards for off-grid lighting products: A first internal retreat including the Lighting Africa project team and technical experts from developing and developed countries is being held in mid-October to discuss key issues concerning the development of a quality assurance approach for off-grid lighting applications. Following the workshop, a draft quality assurance plan will be provided to all participating Lighting Africa members for comments and suggestions.