Context :

• There is a market opportunity in Haiti for quality solar products;

• OGEF recognizes that there is an upfront cost for businesses to enter or expand into this market, and the purpose of this grant is to help businesses reduce this cost;

• To qualify for a grant, companies must be committed to selling VeraSol-certified products and plan to achieve volume sales across Haiti.

This Call for Proposals is launched with the following key objectives:

• Encourage local and international companies to enter the distribution market for VeraSol-certified solar products in Haiti and develop activities allowing them to access additional capital, both in equity and in debt, from OGEF or other investors;

• Provide flexible financing to companies involved in the distribution or financing of the acquisition of VeraSol-certified solar products to continue to develop their activities related to off-grid electrification in Haiti to help companies reach more rural or vulnerable customers with VeraSol-certified products or developing financing solutions that make the product more affordable to end customers;

• Support projects that contribute to achieving the general objective of the OGEF fund to finance access to electricity for 200,000 households and SMEs in Haiti;

• Through these activities, strengthen the share of quality solar products in the Haitian market and support household and SME access to off-grid solar products certified to VeraSol quality standards throughout Haiti.

The total funding available under this Call for Proposals is USD 300,000. The maximum grant amount available per grant applicant under this Call for Proposals is USD 100,000.

The eligibility conditions are as follows:

• Companies must (already or plan to) distribute or facilitate the distribution of solar products that are VeraSol-certified or in the process of being certified by VeraSol;

• Companies must have previously signed a grant agreement with OGEF under OGEF’s Results-Based Financing program (“RBF grant program”). Firms not yet participating in the RBF grant program are also eligible for the catalytic grant, but being eligible for the OGEF RBF grant program is a prerequisite for any disbursement of the catalytic grant;

• Companies must be domiciled in Haiti and hold all the required authorizations and their respective tax declarations must be up-to-date. Start-ups are eligible but can only receive a catalytic grant payment once they are established as legal entities and have a bank account in Haiti;

• Businesses must comply with Know Your Customer (“KYC”) and Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) regulations, have all necessary operating permits and licenses and that their respective tax declarations are up to date. daytime ;

• Other eligibility criteria are applicable and described in the document “Call for Proposal – Catalytic Grant” Below.

Only related future expenses can be covered by the catalytic grant. The following list of eligible uses of catalytic grant funds is illustrative and not exhaustive:

• Partial or full funding of salaries of key people/roles in eligible businesses;

• Upgrades to computer systems/enterprise management software packages;

• Pilot activities to test or implement new distribution models and manage sales channels;

• Relevant legal fees, market studies, staff training.

Catalytic grant applications will be accepted from April 11, 2022 through June 6, 2022. Applicants should submit their grant application by email to contact@ogefhaiti.com no later than 11:59 p.m. Haiti time on June 6, 2022. At the end of the deadline, no request for a catalytic grant will be accepted.

A Q&A window will be offered to awardees with the submission deadline set for May 9, 2022. OGEF will post all answers to questions on its website as soon as possible and no later than June 6, 2022. A virtual conference presenting the Call for Proposals and allowing nominated candidates to ask questions, will take place on Wednesday, May 4, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. Haiti time.

Targeted candidates can register by contacting OGEF by email at: contact@ogefhaiti.com

Further information on this Call for Proposals is available in the downloadable PDFs below: