*Updated on August 9, 2023

 

 CALL TO PROPOSALS

"EDF PULSE AFRICA AWARDS" 2023

(REGULATION)

 

 

ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE, hereinafter referred to as "EDF" or "the Organizer", a limited liability company with a capital of € 1 505 133 838 euros, whose registered office is located at 22-30 avenue de Wagram, 75382 Paris Cedex 08, France, registered with the Paris Trade and Companies Register under number 552 081 317 T, represented by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, organizes the "EDF Pulse Africa Awards" (hereafter the "Awards") through a call for proposals from July 10, to August 20, 2023.

ARTICLE 2 - OBJECTIVES OF EDF PULSE AFRICA 

EDF, one of the world's leading producers of electricity, has made innovation a major instrument in its Cap 2030 strategy. Since 2014, EDF has been working with start-ups to develop innovation and accompany the social changes in the energy sector, and in the global context of global warming and energy transition. With an exponential demand for energy, Africa, hereinafter "the Continent", is mainly concerned with these issues.

Wishing to contribute in facilitating access to energy alongside the agents of change in the continent, EDF's International Division initiates a call for projects and launches the "EDF Pulse Awards" in Africa (hereinafter referred to as " EDF Pulse Africa), in order to be sustainable and effective as a development partner.

The contest is open to start-ups, micro-enterprises and small businesses in Africa that develop innovative solutions in the field of energy. Within the framework of this call for projects, a Grand Jury will award two (2) prize classes, known as the 1st, 2nd prizes of the Jury, to the project winners in one of the following fields and access to “EDF Pulse Africa Accelerator” an acceleration program with partners. EDF reserves the right to reward a favorite project with one (1) prize called "Special Prize":

• Low carbon production: is a category that focuses on hybridizing technologies, inventing new ways of producing or storing electricity, and creating solutions to reduce CO₂ emissions and limit our dependence on fossil fuels. 
• Low carbon consumption: This is a category that aims to reconcile economic development with the preservation of the planet by designing new business models for intelligent consumption and providing services and solutions to simplify, facilitate, and accelerate decarbonization of everyday use.
• Decarbonizing through digital technology: This theme is emphasizing the role of data and digital solutions in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainable practices in various sectors, including transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, energy and low-carbon economy.

Any participating structure must satisfy the following requirements:

• Be a structure (start-up, micro-enterprise ...) of less than 30 people.
• Be domiciled in Africa.
• Be established by august 31, 2023.
• Introduce an innovation that uses or produces electricity, and falls within the scope of one of the 3 categories mentioned above.
• Be the bearer of a project with an advanced stage of development:

✓ Be in the pre-commercialization phase (or be marketed for less than one year).

✓ Have a prototype by December 14, 2023, allowing the demonstration of the proposed solution to the general public, at the time of the Grand Jury.

 

ARTICLE 4 - TERMS OF PARTICIPATION 

Applications may be submitted starting from July 10, 2023. All participants must complete and submit an electronic file on the competition website https://edf-pulse.agorize.com/en/challenges/africa-2023 by August 20 2023, 23.59 pm CET. The complete brief includes:

• One (1) participation form 
• One (1) editable PDF application form presenting:

✓ The structure, its team and its motivations;

✓ The developed solution or product, as well as its market and economic model;

✓ The stage of advancement: tests, prototypes, fund raising, commercial contacts, support and partners, awards...

• One (1) project photo in high definition, JPEG or PNG format, 800 x 600 pixels minimum
  
• One (1) video of 2-3 minutes

The application form for the EDF Pulse Africa Prizes, duly completed, must be submitted by a legal representative or founder of the company on behalf of the latter.

Participants will have the opportunity to submit their application in French or in English.

Entires will be closed on August 20, 2023 at 23:59 (CET).

When sending the application, the participant will receive an electronic acknowledgment notice. He may be requested for clarification or proof of his project by the Organizer or his representative.

The Organizer reserves the right not to study the project brief if it does not meet all the eligibility criteria.

Any file that is incomplete or submitted after the closing date will not be taken into account. Any inaccurate or misleading statement and any form of fraud may result in the disqualification of the candidate.

 

ARTICLE 5 - SELECTION AND COMPETITION PROCESS 

ARTICLE 5.1 - SELECTION CRITERIA 

Any candidate who holds a project that complies with the eligibility criteria and has submitted a complete dossier on the application site https://edf-pulse.agorize.com/en/challenges/africa-2023 is designated as "candidate".

A candidate of the "Top 20 to 10" whose project is selected by the first jury to be presented to the Grand Jury is nominated as "finalist".

Each of the two (2) finalists whose project is rewarded by the Grand Jury is nominated as "laureate".

Projects received will be assessed on the basis of the following selection criteria:

• Clarity and understanding of the proposal
• Innovative and differentiating features of the solution
• Progress for the society brought by the solution
• Relevance of the business model
• Evaluation of the team (vision, complementarity, experiences, skills ...)

These criteria will be taken into account at each stage of the selection process.

Any application that complies with the eligibility criteria and the conditions of participation will be validated.

An internal selection committee, formed of EDF group innovation experts, will meet between September and October 2023 to select the candidate, based on the selection criteria mentioned in Article 4.1. , that will be allowed presented their project in front of Local Juries to be held in the following countries: Morocco, Ivory Coast, Kenya, , Cameroon, Mozambique and South Africa within the framework of an operation named "EDF Pulse Africa Tour"

In order to be able to evaluate the applications more precisely, the Organizer reserves the right, if necessary, to ask candidates to additional questions.

EDF cannot be held responsible for the inaccuracy of the information, resulting from the application files, used for this selection.

On the basis of the applications selected from all the validated submissions, participants from all the following geographical regions (North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa) may come to defend their projects in the following countries: Morocco, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Cameroon, Mozambique and South Africa, a local jury composed of external experts of innovation and internal EDF Group local , will meet on  October 5 in Morocco, October 19 in South Africa, October 24 in Mozambique, November 2 in Cameroun, November 9  in Ivory Coast, and November 16 in Kenya to choose six (6) finalists (indicative dates, subject to change).The selected finalists will be presented to the Grand Jury on December 14 , 2023 in Paris.

Under the patronage of Luc Rémont, Chairman of the EDF Group, a Grand Jury composed of personalities inside and outside EDF, will meet on December 14 , 2023 to audition the finalists during an oral presentation.

Each member of the Grand Jury will judge the oral presentation of the finalists, known as "pitch", keeping in mind the selection criteria.

The finalists' pitches will likely be filmed for later use.

The Grand Jury will be sovereign to choose the Two (2) winners.

A representative of each finalist structure, or its general manager, agrees to make himself/herself available for the event.

In preparation of the grand oral, the representatives will participate to three (3) day coaching session and support in order to the grand jury.

The costs of transport and accommodation in France of each finalist representative will be borne by the Organizer:

- Round trip tickets (country of origin - Paris - country of origin).

- Transfers during the stay.

Participants must personally meet all costs related to the visa application process.

The EDF Pulse Africa Awards ceremony will be held in France on December 14, 2023, in Paris.

The finalists agree to make themselves available for the event. Each must: be represented by a member of its team; and present a model or prototype of its innovation.

The Organizer will organize the travel and accommodation of the representatives of each team, as well as models and prototypes.

The awards ceremony will be filmed and distributed or redisplayed on the Internet, especially on social networks.

Each winner will receive a trophy "EDF PULSE AFRICA 2023 PRIZE" 

Prizes are not transferable. No dispute of any kind, nor exchange or reimbursement for any cause may result from it. As a result, no claim will be admissible. If a prize winner does not wish or is not able to take possession of his prize, he shall not be entitled to any compensation.

 

ARTICLE 7 - THE CALENDAR 

Milestones Dates *	Dates*
Launch of the call for projects on the site http://africa-pulse.edf.com Closing of entries	July 10, 2023 August 20 2023
Local jury: selection of 5 or 6 local projects "Finalists"	From October 5 to November 16, 2023
Coaching session of the finalist representatives	From December 11 to December 12, 2023
Grand Jury: selection of the two (2) prize-winning projects awarded by the jury	December 14, 2023
EDF Pulse Africa Awards ceremony for the two (2) winners	December 14 , 2023

* indicative dates, subject to change 

• Each of the six (6) finalists will have a presentation card on the site http://africa-pulse.edf.com name of the structure and project, logo (if provided in the brief), country of domiciliation, proposal summary, link to website or social network...
• The six (6) finalists will be invited to the Grand Jury day on December 14, 2023 and will participate to a three (3) day coaching session from December 11 to December 13, 2023. More proactively, they will receive mentoring and advice on their project development from October to November. Each of the six (6) finalists will also be invited to the awards ceremony.
• The two (2) laureates will receive from EDF an allocation for the 1st and 2nd prizes: 20K €  and 10K € respectively. This allocation will contribute to the development of their projects. The endowment will be paid by bank transfer or check to the winning team structure. The two (2) winners will benefit from easy access to the “EDF Pulse Africa Accelerator” and the possibility to get financed and possible development of partnerships with EDF Group companies in Africa.
• EDF cannot be held responsible for the inaccuracy of the published information, resulting from the declarations of the candidates.

• On projects:

All the intellectual and industrial property rights attached to the realization of the projects submitted by the candidates remain the property of the owners of the projects concerned.

The applicant certifies that he owns the intellectual and industrial property rights, or he has all the necessary authorizations concerning all the intellectual and industrial property rights attached to the project concerned. He covers the Organizer against any claim of any third party concerning all the intellectual and industrial property rights attached to the submitted project, as well as any financial consequence, which he undertakes to assume full responsibility.

The candidate guarantees that he is not under any obligation, concerning his project and the various creations to which it relates, which could limit his participation.

In no case shall the Organizer shall be held liable if a project or its parts reproduce other protected works.

Participating in the contest cannot be interpreted as granting to the Organizer and the persons authorized by the Organizer, any right to license any industrial or commercial exploitation of the said confidential information. However, the Organizer will have the right to communicate on the projects as provided below (see 8.2).

• Use of EDF and EDF Pulse brand names:

Candidates will be able to integrate their website link to http://africa-pulse.edf.com and use the brand names EDF and EDF Pulse in a written and non-graphic way.

The graphic use of the EDF and EDF Pulse brands will be subject to a written authorization from EDF specifying the terms and limits of use.

Candidates will be able to communicate on social networks about the EDF Pulse Awards in Africa using the hashtag: #EDFPulse.

• Use of brands of candidate projects:

Each candidate authorizes, EDF to use the brand, the logo and the presentation of his project as part of his internal and external communication, free of charge; (including EDF Pulse website http://edf.fr/prixedfpulse) and social networks during the Contest and for a period of 5 years after the end of the EDF Awards Pulse Africa.

All the elements provided by candidates in their application briefs are confidential, and meant for the exclusive use of the selection committee, the juries and their experts. Confidentiality is guaranteed by the Organizer.

The Organizer, the persons mandated by the Organizer, and in particular the members of the selection committee and the juries, undertake to treat as confidential the information provided by the candidates. These information cannot be disclosed without the prior written consent of the candidates.

However, the Organizer is authorized:

• to communicate to the press and to publish on the website http://africa-pulse.edf.com, the following elements : the name of the project and the structure, the country of domiciliation, photos of the project and the team, a logo if the company has one, a link to the website or a social network of the company ...
• make public the essential and non-confidential features of the projects submitted, including the pitch of the project drafted by the candidates in the application form, without any kind of compensation.

Candidates are free to claim the right to protect confidential information related to their projects.

Personal information of the promoters, collected under the EDF Pulse Africa Awards context, are necessary to validate their participation. Personal details are processed under the French amended Law of 6th January 1978, also called « Loi Informatique et Libertés ». Pursuant to Article 38 et seq. of this Law, project holders have the right to access, rectify and delete their personal data; and may oppose the transfer to third parties by serving it in writing to the Organizer at the following address:

EDF - EDF Pulse Africa Award - Communications Department -

67 avenue de Wagram - 75017 Paris - FRANCE

Each member of the participant teams authorizes EDF or any person designated by it, to use the photos submitted for the EDF Pulse Africa Prize, on all types of media to promote its project and / or the prizes, free of charge.

Each member of the participant teams authorizes EDF, or any person designated by it, to photograph, shoot, record and exploit his/her image, voice, and presentation of its project for non-confidential elements under Article 8.2, fixed on all types of media during the reporting, shooting and / or interview conducted as part of the preparation of the Prizes, their promotion and the presentation of the EDF Pulse Africa Awards.

Shootings and interviews conducted will be exclusively used for the internal and external communication of EDF or any EDF Group company, national and international; for its training, promotion or public information activities.

This authorization includes, in particular, the right to reproduce, in whole or in part, photographs and films of the candidates that are identified as non-confidential under Article 8.2, directly by the Organizer or through any third party authorized by the Organizer ; worldwide, by any methods and techniques known or unknown to date, in particular by means of a print, audiovisual or computerized press, on any medium or in any format , And to disseminate them both in the commercial and non-commercial sectors, public and private, with a view to collective and / or domestic reception.

This authorization also grants the Organizer or any person designated by it the right to exploit, reproduce and distribute, in whole or in part, on all media and in the aforementioned conditions, the representative’s statements within the framework of the internal and external communication of EDF, or any company of the group EDF, on the Prices.

This image authorization is valid for 5 years from the date of acceptance of this Regulation.

 

ARTICLE 10 - CONTEST REQUIREMENTS

ARTICLE 10.1 - ALL PARTICIPANTS REQUIREMENTS 

Participating in the EDF Pulse Africa Awards implies the unreserved acceptance of this Regulation and constitutes an agreement between the Organizer and the promoter. The participant guarantees the honesty and accuracy of the information provided during registration.

As a general rule, the promoters should refrain from any kind of activity against the law during the competition. In particular and without this list being exhaustive, it includes to respect the following rules:

• Communicate accurate information when registering and when using the application website https://africa-pulse.edf/com ;
• Do not use a false identity;
• Enter only one registration;
• Comply with the laws in force and the conditions of use of the site;
• Do not create, distribute, transmit, communicate or store in any way and by whomsoever the addressee, any content, information and / or data in any way defamatory, abusive, denigrating, obscene, and, more generally, any content, information or data contrary to public order or morality;
• Respect the intellectual property rights relating to the contents published on EDF Pulse sites as well as the intellectual property rights of third parties;
• Do not divert or attempt to divert any of the functionality of the application site from its normal use;
• Not to disseminate content, information or data of any kind that is not in line with reality;
• Respect the privacy of other users and, more generally, not infringe their rights;
• Do not use EDF Pulse sites to send unsolicited messages (advertising or other).

Successful applicants will be required to:

• Authorize the Organizer to communicate to the general public the title of the project and the essential characteristics of the project, as defined in Article 8.2;
• Authorize the Organizer to exploit the images attached to the project and in particular the image of the candidates;
• Be available to answer additional questions in order to help the Organizer to better evaluate the project, Team, or competitors.

Successful finalists undertake:

• The commitment to be available for the Organizer or one of its mandated partners to produce communication tools (videos, photos, interviews) on projects;

These communication tools will be used for the communication campaign of the "EDF Pulse Africa" Awards.

• The commitment to be for the founder, or at least the Director General of the finalist structure to be available one day before the Grand Jury for the coaching session in communication;

Award winners undertake:

• The commitment to be available up to five (5) days during the twelve (12) months following the award date, to promote the EDF Pulse Africa Awards internally and externally, upon request Of the Organizer.
• The commitment to provide the Organizer, upon request, with information on the development of its project within twenty-four (24) months of the award date.

This regulation shall be governed by French law.

Any dispute that may arise concerning the interpretation of this regulation will be expressly subject to the sovereign assessment of EDF.

No claim relating to the Prizes may be received within fifteen (15) days after the closing of the Prizes.

EDF reserves the right to modify, postpone, extend or cancel the Prizes, without any of the candidates being able to claim any compensation in this respect. In addition, the Organizer cannot be held liable if the regulation should be amended for any reason whatsoever and even without prior notice. Changes will be made known to participants at https://africa-pulse.edf.com and the amended by-law will automatically replace the old one.

 

ARTICLE 11.1 - ACCESS TO APPLICATION SITE

EDF cannot be held responsible in the event that one or more participants cannot connect to the application site due to any technical defect or any problem related notably to:

- the network congestion,

- A human or electrical error,

- Malicious intervention,

- A telephone link problem,

- A malfunction of software or hardware,

- A case of force majeure,

The Organizer reserves the right to ask the candidates for any justification of the information gathered on the application brief. Any misstatement or false information, as well as any form of fraud, will lead to the disqualification of the project holder; the control or screening operations of the various players at the Prizes are authentic.

If the fraud is detected after the Prize has been awarded, and it concerns one of the two (2) prize winners, the Organizer will be entitled to request reimbursement of all or part of the prize awarded. EDF also reserves the right to sue anyone who has defrauded or attempted to do so.

EDF cannot incur any liability towards project holders due to possible fraud.

In the event of non-compliance by participant, EDF reserves the right to exclude its candidature without any possibility of complaint from the candidate.