SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
Terms like "social innovation" and "social entrepreneurship" are themes at C4L - both in terms of its training content and its community-level sustainable development interventions...
Nonprofit or For-profit?
C4L is a registered Nonprofit Organization. (#006-856-NPO)
It is also a Public Benefit Organization (#930000088)
It is not a business, but can rent out its own facility for the same purpose as its core business - training - without running afoul of the Taxman. In fact, government ecourages NPOs to strive for higher levels of sustainability.
Over half of C4L's annual income is derived from grantseeking. Donors say they prefer the "project funding paradigm" so as not to create dependency among their Partners. This means that grants come and go, and that C4L needs baseline income to stay afloat between the project grants.
So self-generated income by charging for training (even when it is a "symbolic price") does not make C4L a business - but rather an innovative NPO. In this respect, by getting deeper into accredited training, the doors open to another kind of income - learnerships.
Renewable Energy Focus
On the Opportunities for Youth page of this website, the youth empowerment component is described. Training is offered as Solar Technicians or Basic Plumbers.
Beyond that, however, C4L is promoting two models:
1. Micro-franchising, which is quite new in South Africa
2. Formation of Co-operatives
C4L wants to help youth become economically active - either through self-employment as (informal sector) micro-entrepreneurs, or as members of a formal-sector Co-ops.
First, they must be trained to install solar water heaters and other solar appliances. One Co-op has now been registered - the "mother of all franchises"! That is, it will set the pace for other "micros" to set up similar structures in their own communities, replicating APOLICO. Not a pyramid. This is C4L's roll out strategy.
Cooperatives are a kind of "solidarity group" that can tap incentives available from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Youth Empowerment and Community Enlightenment are both at the heart of this initiative.
It involves both "photo-thermal" and "photo-voltaic" hardware, but the emphasis is on PT.
Biogas, wind and hydro sources are also on C4L's radar screen.
AFRICA POWER & LIGHT CO-OP
C4L is promoting a new initiative called The Africa Power and Light Company or APOLICO for short.
The theme of micro-franchising was adopted in 2010 as a growth model for APOLICO. This followed the experience with New Venture Creation in 2006, in which every one of the 12 youth created a different enterprise. The success rate was disappointing, so micro-franchising seemed to offer a more structured approach.
C4L starts by training individual entrepreneurs. Then it encourages them to join together is solidarity groups as Co-operatives. This is because the DTI offers incentives to those starting Co-ops.
In mid-2011, a Co-op was formed by 5 members called APOLICO. It constitutes a "trial franchise", although the model is more about replication than ownership. In other words, if other Co-ops are formed in other municipalities, they will not have to pay royalties to APOLICO. each one is independent.
Once APOLICO is up and running, it can be replicated into other municipalities. Of course, there is a functional link to the training described on the Opportunities for Youth page of this website (plumbers, solar technicians and entrepreneurship). But that happens on the C4L campus, not out in communities.
APOLICO will kick-start a network of micro-entrepreneurs trained as solar installers. who can also provide inspection and maintenance services for solar appliances at community level. Each one of these joins a Co-op as a micro-franchisee. This will mean more than job creation - it will reduce electricity consumption which is a national priority in South Africa, which in turn reduces the carbon footprint.