SunCulture, a photo voltaic irrigation firm headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, has received the first disbursement from a brand new US $11m syndicated debt facility to broaden its operations in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new mortgage is groundbreaking for the productive use photo voltaic sector due to its size and its revolutionary mixture of working capital and end-user financing.
Arranged by ไดอะแฟรม , the co-investors within the facility are Nordic Development Fund; Triodos Investment Management, through its Hivos-Triodos Fund; SunFunder through its Solar Energy Transformation Fund; AlphaMundi via each its SocialAlpha and AlphaJiri Investment Funds; and the AfDB’s FEI OGEF managed b Lions Head.
This will enable SunCulture to scale up renewable power installations at smallholder farms and households that unwell mitigate over 20,000 tons of CO2 yearly as farmers substitute diesel pumps with solar ones while facilitating revenue development and job alternatives in rural communities.
SunCulture has pioneered a Pay-As-You-Gro business mannequin to make solar-powered irrigation inexpensive for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, combining end-user finance, value-added providers, trendy local weather technology, and access to enhance productivity. A latest report developed b Dalberg Research reveals that irrigation methods and solar-powered water pumps can increase farmers production between 2 and 4 occasions, and their earnings between 2 and 6 times.
READ: SunCulture to distribute solar-powered water pumps throughout Africa
Samir Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer at SunCulture, said: “The past year was devastating for the hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers in Kenya; 87% are in a worse financial position as a outcome of pandemic. 81% of SunCulture farmers, however, were capable of enhance their revenue from farming in 2020. Solar irrigation helps create food safety and sovereignty, and it additionally helps carry people out of poverty. This facility additional allows our efforts to help farmers by offering them with more of our solar solutions, and quicker.”
Jemimah Kwakye-Fosu, Investment Officer, who led the transaction for SunFunder, said: “We are delighted to have led this syndicate of proactive lenders who labored nicely together for a common aim: to assist SunCulture reach man extra farmers. It reveals how working capital could be combined with end person financing, which is important for making productive use applied sciences inexpensive.”
Surabhi Mathur Visser, Head of Investments at SunFunder, stated: This is a pioneering transaction that demonstrates how productive use applied sciences like solar irrigation could be scaled up. SunFunder arranged this facility with a similar-minded group of lenders to help an innovative product and enterprise model. We look forward to seeing SunCulture grow in Kenya and ne markets.
Karin Isaksson, Managing Director at NDF, said: “This loan to SunCulture is the second extended to an organization graduating from the EEP Trust Fund managed by NDF. It is a transparent demonstration that we are in a position to ship on the new NDF Strategy and its commitment to offer flexible and scalable financing as properly as catalytic impact. It has all of the elements that define NDFs added worth in the climate financing panorama. It demonstrates our capability to convene and mobilise extra financing, in addition to our distinctive mi of financing devices to match the needs of our companions, public or personal. We are proud to be standing with our partners and supporting the emergence of a greener economy, exactly at this time of COVID-19.
Since our first funding in 2019, SunCulture has made large strides to unlock the potential of smallholder agriculture via innovative products and consumer credit score. FEI-OGEF is happy to have the ability to refinance our inventor mortgage into this new working capital facility and continue that development alongside a dedicated and constructive group of lenders, famous Harr Guinness from Lions Head.
READ: SunCulture associate with Togo to speed up entry to sustainable solar-powered farming
Judith Santbergen, Senior Investment Manager at AlphaMundi, said: “Since 2018, AlphaMundi has successively provided support to SunCulture through a mixture of technical help and debt investment. We are excited to continue and improve our funding within the company through this new, revolutionary working capital facility.
Sjoerd Melsert, Senior Investment Manager at Triodos Investment Management, said: “SunCulture is a good example of an revolutionary company that’s lively on the nexus of renewable vitality and agriculture, using solar energy to extend farmers’ incomes. Our facility supports the further growth of SunCultures pay-as-you-go solar portfolio, leading to a extra sustainable and better manufacturing for smallholder farmers, which is full aligned with the mission, ambition and activities of Hivos-Triodos Fund.”
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