SunCulture, a solar irrigation company headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, has acquired the primary disbursement from a model new US $11m syndicated debt facility to broaden its operations in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new loan is groundbreaking for the productive use photo voltaic sector because of its size and its revolutionary combination of working capital and end-user financing.
Arranged by SunFunder, the co-investors in the facility are Nordic Development Fund; Triodos Investment Management, by way of its Hivos-Triodos Fund; SunFunder by way of its Solar Energy Transformation Fund; AlphaMundi through 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 vitality installations at smallholder farms and households that sick mitigate over 20,000 tons of CO2 yearly as farmers exchange diesel pumps with solar ones whilst facilitating income growth and job alternatives in rural communities.
SunCulture has pioneered a Pay-As-You-Gro business mannequin to make solar-powered irrigation affordable for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, combining end-user finance, value-added providers, fashionable climate know-how, and access to improve productivity. เครื่องมือความดัน developed b Dalberg Research exhibits that irrigation methods and solar-powered water pumps can improve farmers production between 2 and four times, and their income between 2 and 6 times.
READ: SunCulture to distribute solar-powered water pumps across Africa
Samir Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer at SunCulture, mentioned: “The previous year was devastating for the hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers in Kenya; 87% are in a worse monetary position as a result of pandemic. 81% of SunCulture farmers, however, have been in a position to enhance their revenue from farming in 2020. Solar irrigation helps create meals safety and sovereignty, and it also helps lift people out of poverty. This facility further enables our efforts to assist farmers by offering them with extra of our solar solutions, and sooner.”
Jemimah Kwakye-Fosu, Investment Officer, who led the transaction for SunFunder, mentioned: “We are delighted to have led this syndicate of proactive lenders who labored properly collectively for a standard aim: to assist SunCulture reach man extra farmers. It exhibits how working capital can be mixed with finish consumer financing, which is essential for making productive use applied sciences inexpensive.”
Surabhi Mathur Visser, Head of Investments at SunFunder, said: This is a pioneering transaction that demonstrates how productive use technologies like solar irrigation could be scaled up. SunFunder arranged this facility with a similar-minded group of lenders to help an innovative product and business model. We sit up for seeing SunCulture grow in Kenya and ne markets.
Karin Isaksson, Managing Director at NDF, stated: “This mortgage 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 will ship on the model new NDF Strategy and its dedication to provide versatile and scalable financing as properly as catalytic impact. It has all of the elements that outline NDFs added value within the local weather financing panorama. It demonstrates our capability to convene and mobilise extra financing, in addition to our unique mi of financing instruments to match the wants of our partners, public or private. We are proud to be standing with our partners and supporting the emergence of a greener economy, exactly presently of COVID-19.
Since our first funding in 2019, SunCulture has made huge strides to unlock the potential of smallholder agriculture via revolutionary merchandise and shopper credit. FEI-OGEF is joyful to be able to refinance our inventor mortgage into this new working capital facility and proceed that progress alongside a dedicated and constructive group of lenders, noted Harr Guinness from Lions Head.
READ: SunCulture partner with Togo to hurry up entry to sustainable solar-powered farming
Judith Santbergen, Senior Investment Manager at AlphaMundi, stated: “Since 2018, AlphaMundi has successively provided help to SunCulture through a mix of technical assistance and debt investment. We are excited to continue and enhance our funding within the company through this new, revolutionary working capital facility.
Sjoerd Melsert, Senior Investment Manager at Triodos Investment Management, mentioned: “SunCulture is a good example of an innovative company that’s active on the nexus of renewable energy and agriculture, utilizing solar energy to increase farmers’ incomes. Our facility helps the additional growth of SunCultures pay-as-you-go solar portfolio, leading to a more 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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