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Beneficiaries
CLEAN, NON-POLLUTING ENERGY
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
1 in 8 people still do not have access to electricity. In order to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, it is necessary to increase the use of renewable energy from 25 % today to 38 % in 2025.
ACCIONA is positioning itself as a key player in addressing the growth in energy demand while curbing the progress of global warming and promoting the transition to a decarbonized energy model.
CLIMATE ACTION
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
The generation and use of energy is responsible for 74 % of total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. This activity is the largest contributor to global warming. Investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other low carbon technologies will continue to be essential to meet the new needs of humanity and to minimise their negative impact on the environment.
ACCIONA considers the fight against climate change and its related effects to be a strategic priority. The Company is working to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in order to contribute to the progress of society and respond to the main challenges of sustainable development in the areas of infrastructure, water and energy, leading the transition to a low-carbon economy.
As part of their Socio – economic Development (SED) obligations and commitments with South African legislation, Gouda wind farm supports an entrepreneur and SMME Development program named The Labit Program, since June 2016, benefiting a total of 364 people thanks to its open days. 31 entrepreneurs of these 364 people have completed the full program and have been able to carry out their new business.
The entrepreneur and SMME Development program seeks to encourage entrepreneurial thinking within the communities through the guidance of experts in small businesses development, and thereafter, to identify suitable businesses that they coach and mentor to become successful, sustainable entities.
In addition to the coaching and mentoring, these identified businesses will also be able to access funding towards the development and growth of their businesses as part of the Enterprise Development Program.
The program is built in 5 phase process:
- Open Days: Bi-monthly: small business workshops covering topics from budgeting to Social Media, mentoring, marketing etc. Everything a small business might need.
- Labit Academy: a week long competitive workshop in the same communities where they have Open Days. They select 25- 35 candidates to attend and spend intensive time and effort on the Business Model Canvas and various other skills. On the final day, the entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel and they select the Top 5 to go to the LAB.
- The LAB: after being selected during the Labit Academy, the Entrepreneurs enter The LAB. This is a 6-12 month preincubation process, where they provide various business consulting (life skills, finance literacy, business model etc.), a monitoring and evaluation process and some seed capital, just to get to minimum viable product. If successful in The LAB, the entrepreneur becomes part of the next step, the Friends of Labit. After a successful year in the LAB, they chose the top candidates to progress into the next program., with the following candidates: catering services, leather products, among others.
- The Incubator (Friends of Labit): the “Friends of Labit” then become part of the family where they fully incubate them for a period of 12-24 months, depending on the product/service and the requirements.
- The Accelerator: at this point, they can prove that the business has potential to scale properly. They would seek external investment (if needed), they analyze job creation (number of part-time or full-time employees needed) and monitor and evaluate the impact generated by the company in the community.
With this project, ACCIONA contributes to the commitment of social investment of the company, promoting the local economy in the communities in the area of influence of its facilities and improving the social welfare by empowering entrepreneurs to help them achieve their goals.