1. Introduction

Lighting Rural Tanzania Competition 2012 (LRTC2012) is a competitive grant program that aims at supporting private enterprises in developing and delivering a wide array of modern lighting products for rural households and businesses. Lighting Rural Tanzania Competition builds upon the base of lighting technologies that exist today, seeking market solutions to provide an array of products with the quality, applications, cost, and configurations needed by the low income market segment. The competition is focused on increasing access to modern renewable energy sources in rural Tanzania, improving lighting technologies and reducing use of kerosene lamps and candles.

Lighting Rural Tanzania Competition (LRTC2012) comes as a continuation of the Lighting Rural Tanzania Competition (LRTC) program. The first competition, LRTC2010, saw a total of ten project winning grants totaling one million United States dollars (USD $1,000,000.00).

The Lighting Rural Tanzania Competition (LRTC) is organized in collaboration with the World Bank.

2. Program Objective

The overall objective is the provision of clean, affordable, sustainable and environmentally friendly energy services to rural communities in Mainland Tanzania.

The following are specific objectives of the competition:

• Increase access to modern lighting systems for households, schools and health centers.
• Improve technology for production of low cost renewable energy products.
• Bring to the market, products that are competitive in terms of price.
• Build sustainable technical and commercial capabilities of rural energy entrepreneurs to operate and sustainably manage renewable energy systems.
• Enhance project developers’ competencies in preparing viable and bankable project proposals.

3. Lighting Rural Tanzania Competition Themes

• Service Delivery: Sustainable and large scale delivery of lighting products and services in rural Tanzania, including removal of existing barriers.
• Product Innovation: Responding to consumer and market needs via development and commercialization of high quality, durable, efficient, low cost lighting products/services.
• Environment: Renewable energy, clean energy technologies, energy efficiency, and/or environmentally sustainable solutions to meet lighting needs of households, small enterprises, communities, etc.
• Health: Protecting health from environmental risk factors, such as indoor air pollution and improper disposal of hazardous material. Reliance on wood fuels combined with inadequate housing/cooking facilities lead to a high incidence of respiratory infection from indoor air pollution, and contributes to deforestation, soil erosion, and environmental degradation. Moreover, the lack of energy for basic human activity such as agriculture, transport, medical care, communication, education, and enterprise further marginalizes poor people and limits their ability to increase their incomes.
• Natural Resources: Sustainable management of natural resources (land, water, forests) specifically for the provision of water supply, sanitation and energy to off-grid rural communities.

The competition seeks to support innovative and sustainable local-level solutions that improve the quality of and access to modern energy services for off-grid communities in Mainland Tanzania. In doing so, the Rural Energy Agency and the community will gain valuable insights on providing effective and efficient service delivery to these people.

4.Who Should Participate and Eligibility Criteria

The competition is open to a wide variety of development innovators, including Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), international partners, private foundations, universities and schools, private sector groups, individuals, and local and municipal governments.

Proposals will be screened to ensure that they conform to the following criteria:

• Sub-themes: Proposals must reflect the theme of Innovations in Energy Services for Poor People, in any of the following areas:
  • Service Delivery: Sustainable delivery of energy services to poor households and communities.
  • Environment: Renewable energy, clean energy technologies, energy efficiency, and/or environmentally sustainable solutions to poor households and small enterprises.
  • Health: Protecting health from environmental risk factors, such as indoor air pollution and improper disposal of hazardous.
  • Natural Resources: Sustainable management of natural resources (land, water, forests) specifically for the provision of water supply, sanitation and energy to the poor. Type of organization (NGO, private enterprise, local).
  • Minimum and maximum grant requested.
  • Duration of project existence.
  • Legal status of applying organization.
  • Partnership requirement (with local partners).
  • Innovation: The extent to which the idea is creative.
  • Measurability: Measurable project with clear result/impact to target population.
  • Sustainability: Organizational capacity and financial viability of the project.
  • Growth potential: Extent to which project could be scaled up to reach additional beneficiaries or replicable elsewhere.
  • Project risk: What are the potential risks to successful project execution? What risk mitigation strategies are proposed?
• Implementing organization and partnerships: LRTC2012 is particularly interested in proposals from local organizations.
  • Proposals from international organizations will be considered eligible only if their implementing partner is a local organization.
  • Private businesses, individuals, non-profit organization such as NGOs/CSOs, foundations and universities/schools are eligible.
  • Municipal and local government agencies are eligible to apply in partnership with at least one of the other different organizations mentioned above.
• Implementation time frame: Proposed activities must be completed within 18 months of receiving the initial disbursement from LRTC2012.
• Results: The output or results outlined in proposals should be measurable and demonstrate a direct impact on improving the access to services by poor and marginalized households in an environmentally sound manner. Projects with the sole output of research, such as publications or conferences/forums with no directly verifiable results on the ground, will be ineligible. The proposals should also demonstrate financial viability and the potential to scale up.
• Maximum award size: The maximum award size for LRTC2012 is one million United States dollars (USD $1,000,000.00). Award to winners will vary in size according to the needs outlined in their proposals, but shall not exceed one hundred thousand United States dollars (USD $100,000.00).
• Past winners and applicants of Lighting Rural Tanzania or Lighting Africa: If your project is already being funded by the World Bank Group or if you are a past winner (Global or Country-level), you may submit a proposal that is significantly different from the project or idea for which you have received funding. You should not submit the same idea or project.
• Multiple submissions: If you have submitted a proposal to any of the on-going regional and country competition (Albania, Benin, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, China, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Kosovo, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Senegal, and Serbia and Montenegro) you may not be eligible to send a proposal to LRTC2012. Please contact the LRTC2012 team at lrtc2012@rea.go.tz or info@rea.go.tz for further clarification.
• Language: Proposals must be submitted in English.

5. Assessment Criteria

Proposals will be assessed according to the following criteria:

• Innovation: Extent to which idea varies from current approach – e.g. a novel approach to implement an idea or in a new country/region. The LRTC2012 is especially interested in a variety of innovations, such as affordable technologies; application of advanced technologies to services to the poor; financing mechanisms; institutional arrangements and partnerships designed to unblock constraints to service delivery; innovative contracting instruments; people-centered approaches to service delivery; behavioral change; and innovative use of technology for capacity building and training; among others.
• Realism and Results: Extent to which project outputs or results are clear and have a direct impact on improving service delivery to the poor. Project teams should present a realistic implementation time frame and budget.
• Financial Viability: Extent to which the implementing organization is able to sustain their activities beyond LRTC2012 funding phase. Project teams should demonstrate their ability to make the project financially viable by leveraging funds from grants and non-grant resources (such as user fees, community contributions, etc) to make the project financially viable.
• Sustainability (organizational, social, and environmental as relevant): Extent to which the proposal addresses organizational capacity, environmental sensitivity, and local support and participation.
• Replicability and Scaling up: Extent to which project could be transferred or replicated elsewhere (internally or in another country). In particular, the potential for the idea to be applied at a large scale.
• Project Risks: What are the potential risks to successful project execution? What risk mitigation strategies are proposed?

6. How to Apply

Applicants are encouraged to apply online, click here to start applying online. To use our online proposal form, you must register and have a valid account and profile with www.rea.go.tz. Registration is free.

If you are not able to access the internet or our website, please contact the LRTC2012 Team by phone at +255 22 2412001, +255 22 2412002 +255 787 760020 or +255 784 969313; by Fax at +255 22 2412007 or via e-mail at rltc2012@rea.go.tz. Other methods of application include a downloadable e-mail template for e-mail or print/postal submissions.

PPlease note that all proposals must be submitted before 11:00 East African Time (08:00 GMT) on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012. Online proposals are only considered completed when they have been officially submitted (i.e., you must specifically select the option “Yes (Please SUBMIT Proposal Now)” on line #95 before clicking the “Submit Proposal Now” button).

Applications will only be accepted in English. If successfully submitted, the LRTC2012 Online Application System will acknowledge receipt of your application for your records. Any proposals in draft form will not be considered for evaluation.

7.   LRTC2012 Timeline and Key Steps

The program competition is guided by the values of inclusiveness, diversity, fairness, and transparency. The overall process is described below.

• February 28th, 2012 – March 27th, 2012; Call for proposals: All proposals for LRTC2012 should be submitted through our online application system at http://www.rea.go.tz/resources/applicationforms/lrtc2012onlineproposalform.aspx.
• April 2nd, 2012 – April 30th, 2012; Review of proposals: Proposals will be reviewed against the assessment criteria mentioned above.
• May 15th, 2012; Announcement of finalists: Assessors will select 40 finalists.
• June 16th, 2012 – July 15th, 2012; Submission of finalists’ detailed proposals: All finalists will be asked to submit a more detailed proposal by July 15th, 2012 Finalists will be invited to showcase their ideas before an international jury. The Rural Energy Agency will cover the expense for one representative from each finalist team to attend the event.
• October 1st, 2012 – October 2nd, 2012; Award workshop, knowledge exchange conference and technology exhibitions: Independent jury comprised of and leading personalities in energy development (academia, civil society, foundations, government, other donor institutions, and the private sector) and World Bank staff will evaluate each of the 40 shortlisted proposals and select up to 20 winners.

To take advantage of the presence of a variety of development actors in one place, LRTC2012 will convene a Knowledge Exchange workshop to share ideas and engage finalists with other representatives of the development community in productive and inventive partnerships and networks.

8. Number of Winners

Up to twenty (20) winning proposals will be selected at LRTC2012.

Director General
Rural Energy Agency - REA
Mawasiliano Towers, 2nd Floor
Sam Nujoma Road
P. O. Box 7990
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

E-Mail: info@rea.go.tz
Tel: +255 22 2412001, +255 22 2412002, +255 22 2412003
Fax: +255 22 2412007