Multi-link Group Socap photowas represented at this year’s SOCAP14 by MD Michael Njoroge.

SOCAP (Social Capital Markets) is dedicated to increasing the flow of capital toward social good. Its unique approach emphasizes cross-sector convening and gathers voices across a broad spectrum to catalyze unexpected connections. From the leading edge to established players, SOCAP brings together global innovators, investors, foundations, governments, institutions, and social entrepreneurs to build the world we want to leave to future generations. This years Theme was “Igniting Change”. SOCAP actively seek out opportunities to accelerate the market at the intersection of money and meaning and, in pursuit of that goal, have convened more than 10,000 people since its founding in 2008. The 2014 flagship event took place September 2nd-5th at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, USA.

Multi-link Group’s MD Michael visited China from May 18th 2014 during which he visited a number of Chinese stove manufacturing businesses and discussed potential areas of partnership and collaboration. During the visit Michael had an opportunity to address a well-attended GACC International Conference on the issue of South-South China Africa collaboration where he stressed the need for Chinese and African businesses to collaborate on stove design, manufacturing and assembly for mutual benefits and growth. This immensely rewarding trip was facilitated by the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.
China-adress

Multi-Link Group through Multilink Foundation has donated Ksh. 5 Million to Amani Children Centre in Uasin Gishu County. The money is meant to improve access and quality of education for needy students through support for scholarships, learning materials and construction of classrooms.  The donation was received by the centre’s director Shadrack Kimani in the presence of the overjoyed children.

Multilink-Foundation

CCAK-LOGODuring the Annual General Meeting of the Clean Cookstoves Association of Kenya (CCAK) held at Panafric Hotel in Nairobi on 31st October 2013, Multi_Link Group Managing Director, Michael Njoroge, was elected as an official of the CCAK to serve as the National Vice Chairman for a period of 3 years.  This is a great opportunity for him to bring the wealth of experience acquired in the last three years to enrich the sector.

CCAK is the Kenyan affiliate of The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (GACC) which seeks to mobilize high-level national and donor commitments toward the goal of universal adoption of clean cookstoves and fuels. Its ambitious but achievable goal is to foster the adoption of clean cookstoves and fuels in 100 million households by 2020. The Alliance is mobilizing support from a wide range of private, public, and non-profit stakeholders.

 

 

The Registrar of Societies has on the 15th of May 2013 registered the Clean Cookstoves Association of Kenya (CCAK).  The Director of Multilink, M Njoroge seats in the Secretariat of CCAK.

The Clean Cookstoves Association of Kenya (CCAK) is a national association that strives to build solidarity amongst clean cookstove and fuel stakeholders and create effective partnerships to ensure the use of clean cookstoves and fuels is the norm in Kenyan households and institutions.

The CCAK’s mission is to facilitate the increased innovation in design, testing, production, marketing and use of clean cookstoves and fuel through better government policies, increased public awareness, micro-finance opportunities and capacity building through information sharing, training and campaigning. The CCAK is open to all types of stakeholders operating in the clean cooking and fuel sector including private sector, governmental, non-governmental organisations, academic, research and donors.

The CCAK is a partner of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public-private initiative led by the United Nations Foundation to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women and preserve the environment by creating a thriving global market for clean cooking solutions.

 

 

 

Request for Proposals (RFP) Development of Website for the Clean Cookstove Association of Kenya

 Background

The Clean Cookstoves Association of Kenya (CCAK) is a national association that strives to build solidarity amongst clean cookstove and fuel stakeholders and create effective partnerships to ensure the use of clean cookstoves and fuels is the norm in Kenyan households and institutions.

The CCAK’s mission is to facilitate the increased innovation in design, testing, production, marketing and use of clean cookstoves and fuel through better government policies, increased public awareness, micro-finance opportunities and capacity building through information sharing, training and campaigning. The CCAK is open to all types of stakeholders operating in the clean cooking and fuel sector including private sector, governmental, non-governmental organisations, academic, research and donors.

The CCAK is a partner of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public-private initiative led by the United Nations Foundation to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women and preserve the environment by creating a thriving global market for clean cooking solutions.

The CCAK was formed in December 2012 during the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstove stakeholder workshop in Nairobi. The association is currently coordinated by an interim secretariat that are establishing the fundamental operations of the association and steering it towards its first AGM in which the executive committee and secretariat will be elected.

Activity Description

As part of the establishment process it is proposed that a website be created for the association to advertise its activities, provide information on the association and provide tools and useful resources. The website will have three main audiences;

1.       Members of the CCAK wanting to access tools and resources.

2.       Perspective members of the CCAK who want to find out more information about the association.

3.       Perspective sector actors wanting to find out more information about the clean stove and fuel sector in Kenya

The website will provide information on the CCAK, its missions and objectives, activities and members. It will also contain information to perspective members on the application process. It addition the website will contain a range of tools and resources including interactive mapping of members activities, upcoming events and funding opportunities, updates on the progress of the Kenya Country Action Plan and latest research related to the sector in Kenya.

The selected firm should integrate analytical tracking tools for the administrators to generate reports on user profiles and relevant indicators. Search engine optimization for the portal to ensure directed traffic should also be included.

The website will be developed closely with the CCAK secretariat and its members to ensure it is useful for all types of stakeholders. The web portal should be intuitive, easy to use, and include a range of information.

The following content will need to be developed by the firm within logical, user friendly architecture:

·         A directory of members of the CCAK giving details of the activities they are involved in, types of technology promoted areas of operation and contact details.

·         An interactive map showing details of different projects in Kenya and organisations that operate in each area to allow members to easily access information about a particular region and useful contacts.

·         Details of the CCAK application process and access to the application form.

·         A section dedicated to the Kenya Country Action Plan (CAP), giving details of the planned interventions, activities that are taking place and progress in achieving these interventions.

·         Details of working groups convened by the CCAK and their activities.

·         A section dedicated to upcoming events and announcements of new opportunities.

·         A resource section where existing and new reports and research related to the clean cooking and fuel sector in Kenya can be accessed.

Additionally, the following are the general requirements for the web portal:

·         Ability to host pages in both English and Kiswahili, and where possible be designed to enable use of Google Translate functionality.

·         Designed with consideration for users with low bandwidth capabilities and varying internet speeds. Possible solutions could be to have a “light version” of the website in order not to restrict functionality for all users.

·         Seamless connection to materials and tools on the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves main website, for example the cookstoves and fuels performance inventory.

·         Function for users to contact CCAK and provide feedback.

The firm will also submit a plan for the on-going maintenance of the site.

Timeline

The website must be ready for launch by the end of August 2013 and should be ready for user testing in early August. Following user testing, user feedback must be incorporated prior to launch.

Deliverables

·         Web portal and one month of after launch service

·         Demonstration to CCAK secretariat on how to navigate website and access to services

·         Maintenance plan

·         Analytics tracking and search engine optimization

Application Instructions           

Interested applicants should submit a work plan no more than 8 pages describing the following:

–        Proposed timeline and approach for completing the work, including a description of overall process. The detailed timeline should include milestones, key review and decisions points, as well as a plan for meeting the deadlines outlined above.

–        Unique qualifications of the organization and its staff, such as: experience designing and developing websites. This should include examples of past websites and materials developed by this team.

–        Itemized budget (note that indirect cost estimates may not exceed 10%).

–        Outline of past experience conducting this kind of work.

–        CV of consultant(s) who will work directly on this assignment.

The work plan should be submitted to Michael Njoroge  at njoroge@multilink-kenya.com, no later than 29/04/2013.

Multilink Group has launched The Multilink Foundation to consolidate its various Corporate Responsibility projects. Multilink contributes to the economic and social well-being of people in the areas where we operate because we recognize that business success is deeply linked to society’s progress. Our investments in communities also are investments in the long-term success of our company, and they deliver mutual benefit and promote shared progress. Wherever we are, we strive to be a good neighbour, sharing the concerns of our communities and working to create a better future.

Among projects successfully undertaken include the fundraising and construction of a classroom block and an administration block at the Mcedo Scool in Nairobi’s Mathare slums which was pioneered by the founder of Multilink Foundation, Michael Njoroge. The co-founder is Laureen Otieno who previously headed the community programmes at Multilink Group.

On Friday, Strathmore business school students paid a visit to Multi-Link. The students were taken through the various business units including Branding and promotions, energy, housing and loss adjusting. This was a great opportunity for the students to sharpen their saws. During the open forum, the students had insightful discussions and commended Multi-Link for strong business leadership. Multi-Link Director Chris Gitimu gave a talk on loss adjusting and implored Bachelor of Commerce students to consider it as a career

Multi-Link Group stand has emerged the best in energy category in the just concluded Nyeri Agricultural Society of Kenya show at Kabiruini grounds in Nyeri County.
The annual ASK Nyeri show took place last week (from Wed, 12th – Sat, 15th Sept 2012), and as usual, Multi-Link Group came out in its full winning colour. The event affords us an excellent opportunity to showcase our clean cooking and clean lighting products to potential clientele, as well as interact and learn from our competitors and partners in the market.
The Multi-Link stand took position one in the energy category after being declared the best during the judging round. This year, the theme for ASK shows is “Enhancing technology in agriculture and industry for food security and national growth.” Curious members of the public flocked to the Multi-Link stand to inquire on various household energy products. Regional Multi-Link representatives from Nyeri took the opportunity to educate visitors on various clean cooking technologies and solar lighting products. Hundreds of exhibitors showcased their products and services to thousands of participants drawn from all over East Africa. The entire Multi-Link staff and management thanks everyone who went out of their way to make sure this year’s show was fruitful.

The 14th session of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment, AMCEN came to a close today amidst intense lobbying by pan-african civil society movements and major groups for a renewed commitment to climate financing for adaptation on the African continent. The currently available climate financing mechanisms are non-binding and therefore most countries, especially Annex 1 countries, do not have to legally commit to it. According to Transparency international, the current climate finance mechanism models are not sustainable. The green climate fund has in particular been described as a shell, with very little money committed to it. Lack of transparency and public disclosure in  decision making processes, Policy capture and undue influence from interested parties, Conflict of interest, Creative accounting and reporting , Double counting of emissions, Mismanagement of public resources are some of the issues highlighted as interferences to fully realizing the benefits of climate financing models under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC.

Indeed, financing for climate change has been turned into a political showdown and it is the hope of many, especially developing countries worst affected by climate change that the  commitment made under the Durban Platform for Enhaced Action to ‘launch a process to develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties, through a subsidiary body under the Convention will be realised so as to legally bind countries to climate financing.

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