Sendea (Solar Entrepreneurs Network for Decentralized Energy Access) is a program of the Stiftung Solarenergie – Solar Energy Foundation that supports local small and medium solar enterprises (SME) in developing countries.
Today the solar industry in developing countries is dominated by international companies who are establishing local branches. International companies dominate the local markets, get most of the public attention and are often subsidized by grants.
However, the establishment of local solar companies, which work independently and are majority owned by domestic entrepreneurs, is important for sustainable job creation in the off-grid industry. The lack of vibrant local SMEs is a significant obstacle to building an equitable and sustainable solar industry in these countries.
In order to bring more visibility and attention to local solar SMEs and increase knowledge exchange between entrepreneurs the Stiftung Solarenergie – Solar Energy Foundation has established Sendea. In 2015 the Fellowship program for selected entrepreneurs started successfully.
Due to the high interest from local SME to join Sendea, we decided to additionally establish a Membership program, in order to give more local entrepreneurs the opportunity for more visibility and knowledge exchange.
Who can become a member of Sendea?
Membership is available exclusively for companies who:
- are registered in a developing country,
- are majority owned by local shareholders,
- are neither a branch nor exclusive distributor of an international manufacturer.
What are the benefits of being a member of Sendea?
Wider visibility and publicity
1. All members get the right to publish news about their activities in the weekly newsletter of Sun-Connect News. Sun-Connect News is the world’s leading news platform for the solar off-grid industry.
2. Members also become Business Member of the Sun-Connect News Company Database, which includes:
- we place logo, contact details and a company description on Sun-Connect News webpage
- we publish an interview with the CEO and promote this in our weekly newsletter
- we also publish press releases.
3. All members get unlimited right to publish their products on Sendea Marketplace, the biggest online marketplace for solar products in Africa and Asia. Publishing your products and prices on this marketplace helps you to find new customers and partners.
Knowledge exchange
In a second step (starting 2018) Sendea will arrange a platform for entrepreneurs and practitioners to exchange knowledge and experiences. Additionally, Sendea aims to arrange special offers for all members, such as access to training, SME support, special prices for events etc.
What are your obligations as member of Sendea?
The membership is for free. But there are some obligations in order to make the network successful and fruitful for all members. Please check them on our webpage.
Interested to join Sendea?
Download the application form from the Sendea Webpage and send it to: mail@Sendea.org