Two New GOGLA Projects Kicked Off

Two new projects have started within the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA). With the support of *GIZ, GOGLA is implementing the projects “investing into the off-grid lighting market” and “developing a quality assurance roadmap” that will both greatly benefit the accelerated market transition to clean off-grid lighting solutions.

The ‘investing into the off-grid lighting’ project has the objective to help overcome capital shortage the industry is often facing today and preventing manufacturers and distributors alike from scaling up. Long distribution channels are tying up working capital, investors lack the knowledge about the great market potential of high quality off-grid lighting products and SMEs are having difficulties to access finance in general in order to serve the BOP market. The project entails the publication of a study addressing investors and showcasing the great market potential not yet recognized by the sector. Moreover, two investor conferences will be held in spring 2014 in London and Zurich, where potential investors can meet the industry and learn about investment opportunities in different parts of the value chain. The project is supported by the GIZ, A.T. Kearney, QUADIA, the Solar Energy Foundation, and Solar Aid.

In order to scale up the market, quality assurance is crucial. Low quality products swamping the nascent market would cause deep mistrust with the end user and severely harm sustainable market development. The need to develop a quality assurance roadmap agreed upon by all stakeholders and serving as a guideline for future quality assurance activities, has been identified through the feedback GOGLA has received from its members. In cooperation with GIZ, GOGLA has initiated a project with the objective of building on the work of IFC and Schatz Institute and making a major contribution to the development of a quality assurance concept. The project seeks to enable a transparent and informed discussion/consultation process in which every participant can draw on the same level of information and knowledge. A study made accessible to everyone interested, will summarize the status quo and look into possible synergies with neighbouring industries (esp. on grid lighting) and benchmarks. In early 2014 two webinars and a quality assurance symposium will bring all stakeholders together to constructively develop a commonly agreed quality assurance roadmap that will serve as a guideline for the development of future standards and performance targets.

For further information about these programs, please contact Johanna Diecker (Johanna.diecker@gogla.org)

* GIZ operates in many fields: economic development and employment promotion; governance and democracy; security, reconstruction, peace building and civil conflict transformation; food security, health and basic education; and environmental protection, resource conservation and climate change mitigation. They also support partners with management and logistical services, and act as an intermediary, balancing diverse interests in sensitive contexts. The sole shareholder of GIZ is the Federal Republic of Germany, represented within Germany by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF).

18 Dec