SunCulture, a photo voltaic irrigation company headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, has obtained 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 as a end result of its dimension and its innovative mixture of working capital and end-user financing.
Arranged by SunFunder, the co-investors in the facility are Nordic Development Fund; Triodos Investment Management, via its Hivos-Triodos Fund; SunFunder through its Solar Energy Transformation Fund; AlphaMundi via both its SocialAlpha and AlphaJiri Investment Funds; and the AfDB’s FEI OGEF managed b Lions Head.
This will allow SunCulture to scale up renewable power installations at smallholder farms and households that sick mitigate over 20,000 tons of CO2 yearly as farmers replace diesel pumps with solar ones while facilitating earnings growth and job opportunities in rural communities.
เกจวัดแรงดันแก๊สอาร์กอน has pioneered a Pay-As-You-Gro business mannequin to make solar-powered irrigation reasonably priced for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, combining end-user finance, value-added providers, modern local weather technology, and access to improve productiveness. A recent report developed b Dalberg Research shows that irrigation methods and solar-powered water pumps can enhance farmers production between 2 and four occasions, and their earnings between 2 and 6 times.
READ: SunCulture to distribute solar-powered water pumps across Africa
Samir Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer at SunCulture, stated: “The past 12 months was devastating for the hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers in Kenya; 87% are in a worse financial place due to the pandemic. 81% of SunCulture farmers, nevertheless, were able to increase their income from farming in 2020. Solar irrigation helps create meals safety and sovereignty, and it additionally helps carry individuals out of poverty. This facility further allows our efforts to help farmers by providing them with extra of our solar options, 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 worked nicely collectively for a typical goal: to assist SunCulture reach man extra farmers. It shows how working capital may be combined with end user financing, which is important for making productive use applied sciences reasonably priced.”
Surabhi Mathur Visser, Head of Investments at SunFunder, mentioned: This is a pioneering transaction that demonstrates how productive use technologies like photo voltaic irrigation could be scaled up. SunFunder organized this facility with a similar-minded group of lenders to help an innovative product and enterprise model. We sit up for seeing SunCulture grow in Kenya and ne markets.
Karin Isaksson, Managing Director at NDF, mentioned: “This mortgage to SunCulture is the second prolonged to an organization graduating from the EEP Trust Fund managed by NDF. It is a clear demonstration that we will ship on the model new NDF Strategy and its commitment to offer versatile and scalable financing as properly as catalytic impression. It has all of the elements that outline NDFs added worth in the climate financing panorama. It demonstrates our capability to convene and mobilise further financing, in addition to our unique mi of financing instruments to match the needs of our companions, public or non-public. We are proud to be standing with our companions and supporting the emergence of a greener economic system, exactly presently of COVID-19.
Since our first funding in 2019, SunCulture has made big strides to unlock the potential of smallholder agriculture through innovative merchandise and client credit. FEI-OGEF is pleased to find a way to refinance our inventor mortgage into this new working capital facility and proceed that growth alongside a committed and constructive group of lenders, noted Harr Guinness from Lions Head.
READ: SunCulture companion with Togo to hurry up access to sustainable solar-powered farming
Judith Santbergen, Senior Investment Manager at AlphaMundi, mentioned: “Since 2018, AlphaMundi has successively offered assist to SunCulture by way of a combination of technical assistance and debt funding. We are excited to proceed and enhance our funding in the company by way of this new, innovative working capital facility.
Sjoerd Melsert, Senior Investment Manager at Triodos Investment Management, stated: “SunCulture is a great example of an revolutionary company that’s active on the nexus of renewable vitality and agriculture, utilizing solar energy to extend farmers’ incomes. Our facility helps the additional development of SunCultures pay-as-you-go photo voltaic portfolio, resulting in a extra sustainable and better production for smallholder farmers, which is full aligned with the mission, ambition and activities of Hivos-Triodos Fund.”
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