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PUE Coordinator

Description

Reports to: Country Manager
Based in: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with frequent trips to the field (Pwani, Tanga)

Background
Energy 4 Impact is an international advisory organization supporting the energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. We deliver demand-driven, practical, and customised support to SMEs, project developers, social enterprises, and micro-enterprises that provide renewable energy services to off-grid communities.

Our team of 90 people includes primarily locally based professionals who are supported by a small head office in London. The organization is comprised of:

Country Teams in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Senegal. These teams provide business and technical skills training and mentorship to micro-enterprises that deliver “last-mile” energy services, and support them to access finance from MFIs, SACCOs and local banks.
Advisory Services team in Nairobi that provides consulting and advisory to SMEs, project developers and social enterprises, and supports them to secure corporate/project financing.
Administrative and support staff based in our London HQ and Nairobi regional head office.

Energy 4 Impact is funded by major development agencies e.g Sida (Sweden), DfID (UK), World Bank, USAID, Barclays, OFID, and EU. Since our founding in 2006, we have leveraged $100 million of grant funding to support more than 3,000 businesses.

Role

The main role of this position is to manage and coordinate field related activities for the Rural Electrification Densification Programme Phase 1 (REDP), Productive Use of Energy in Pwani and Tanga in Tanzania under the Rural Energy Agency (REA).
The REDP objective is to empower local entrepreneurs to fully benefit from the expansion of the national grid by stimulating productive use of electricity.
The PUE activities will, in this pilot phase, be limited to 74 villages located in the Tanga and Pwani regions, 20 in Tanga and 54 in Pwani.
The support provided by E4I includes supporting the implementation phase of these projects by providing enterprise development support to local businesses in the sites, to ensure the target communities make the most out of the newly available power and strengthen the financial viability and sustainability of the newly installed energy grid.
This goes beyond training on how to make the most of the new power supply, and even beyond broader business training; it seeks to implement a holistic package of interventions to address all the barriers that may exist to enterprises’ growth prospects, and therefore includes:

Coordinate and lead on mobilization activities on the ground and project buy-in by the relevant stakeholders and the target community,
Coordinate and facilitate stakeholder relations on the ground including the relationship between project developer and the potential clients for productive use activities
Actively develop productive use of electricity (PUE) concepts and engage stakeholders along the value chain
Capacity building to PUE businesses through ongoing mentoring
Facilitate access to finance through the design and implementation of a financing mechanism tailored at encouraging MFI or other external financing parties to lend to businesses so that they can acquire the electrical equipment required for productive uses.
Facilitate access to markets, participation in value chains and other expertise

The PUE coordinator will be expected to lead, define, manage and coordinate all field activities mentioned above to support and enhance project implementation at the country level (Tanzania). The PUE coordinator acts as the focal point of contact and country lead for the Project Manager.

Responsibilities for the role include:

Contribute to relationship management: regular updates on agreed frequency, reporting on challenges and mitigation strategies, as well as lessons learned.
Conducting field interventions: site assessments, energy surveys and demand assessment. Based on field assessments and study reports, propose a field intervention to implement appropriate productive use support activities for local enterprises. This includes facilitate contacts and agreement between the project developer and the enterprises aiming to use electricity for productive activities (electricity availability, metering and tariffs and methods of payment, safety, load management, etc)
Community mobilization: Raise awareness on options for using electricity beyond basic needs such as light, phone charging and TV/radio, and the economic and social benefit of productive uses. Organise workshops and consultations to help and encourage existing entrepreneurs to identify and start new business ideas or expand or diversify existing ones (eg: providing services such as use of computers, sports & films on TV, phone charging, barbershops, etc. or processing/refrigeration of locally grown agricultural crops or locally caught fish, or small scale wood or metal workshops). Identification and selection of micro and small local businesses: based on the need assessments and consultations, select the most promising local entrepreneurs, with business ideas whose economic viability has been established, to receive support.
On-going business mentoring and support to local entrepreneurs in the identified project areas
Technical Assistance (TA): Provide technical assistance services in the form of technical training workshops and coaching to help entrepreneurs make informed decisions on selection and purchase of equipment, operation of the new equipment and machineries and basic maintenance. The PUE coordinator will also provide information on warranties, maintenance servicing, and provision of spare parts, safety precautions and energy-efficient use.
Access to finance: Support enterprises to access the required finance to invest in the electrical equipment and machineries required for productive uses. We expect the PUE coordinator to propose best option to access finance (whether though loans or other means) and work in close collaboration with the Access to Finance team and Project manager in this matter. For those enterprises that will access loans, the PUE coordinator will also be in charge of monitoring loan repayment.
Access to market activities: Connecting entrepreneurs across the value chain, helping them to source new raw materials, or facilitate linkage with dealers operating at a regional or national level, organise visits to market places or national trade fairs, etc. Where the potential of the village or the region is deemed insufficient to accommodate for the additional production volume that resulted from the use of new machinery and electricity, the PUE coordinator will help enterprises identify routes to external markets (other town/ cities and regions). In addition, the success of technological change (new machines purchased to make use of electricity) will depend on the availability of repair services in those areas for the new equipment. The PUE coordinator will inform enterprises on where and how to access repair and maintenance services
Monitoring and reporting on key indicators as defined by the Project manager and on the growth of local businesses supported through the program
Contribute to the preparation of regular progress reports and reviews
Supervision of all field staff under this project, staff capacity building on the topic of productive use

Requirements

Academic Qualification & Experience

Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Finance, Accounting or Economics from a reputable institution
Minimum of three years’ experience in relevant field (energy project development, operations, or financing; or experience in early-stage entrepreneurship (and/or)
Experience as an early-stage business building as an entrepreneur, or other service provider e.g. incubation.

Personal Attributes

Good team building and motivational skills with an ability to work with a diverse mix of professionals and deliver.
Strong Analytical & Problem Solving skills
Strong communication skills, both oral and written.
Ability to see the big picture and connect the dots.
A can-do and collaborative mindset – comfortable with the ambiguities and demands of a rapidly evolving and entrepreneurial environment with a team from diverse backgrounds.
Passionate about working in the impact space.

Preferred Experience

Experience working with rural and off-grid business models and technologies, and an understanding of unique challenges faced by businesses operating in Africa.

To apply, please send your CV, along with a covering letter to recruitment@energy4impact.org so as to reach us by latest 20th November, 2017. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted

Energy 4 Impact is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from qualified individuals regardless of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability.

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