SunCulture, a solar irrigation firm headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, has acquired the first disbursement from a brand new US $11m syndicated debt facility to expand its operations in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new loan is groundbreaking for the productive use photo voltaic sector as a end result of its measurement 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, 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 vitality installations at smallholder farms and households that sick mitigate over 20,000 tons of CO2 annually as farmers substitute diesel pumps with photo voltaic ones whilst facilitating income development and job alternatives in rural communities.
SunCulture has pioneered a Pay-As-You-Gro enterprise model to make solar-powered irrigation affordable for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, combining end-user finance, value-added services, modern local weather know-how, and entry to enhance productivity. A current report developed b Dalberg Research exhibits that irrigation techniques and solar-powered water pumps can improve farmers manufacturing between 2 and 4 times, and their income between 2 and 6 occasions.
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 tens of millions of smallholder farmers in Kenya; 87% are in a worse monetary place due to the pandemic. 81% of SunCulture farmers, however, were in a place to enhance their income from farming in 2020. Solar irrigation helps create food security and sovereignty, and it also helps carry people out of poverty. This facility additional enables our efforts to assist farmers by providing them with more of our solar options, 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 worked well together for a typical aim: to help SunCulture reach man extra farmers. It shows how working capital can be mixed with finish consumer financing, which is crucial for making productive use technologies inexpensive.”
Surabhi Mathur Visser, Head of Investments at SunFunder, mentioned: This is a pioneering transaction that demonstrates how productive use applied sciences like solar irrigation can be scaled up. SunFunder arranged this facility with a similar-minded group of lenders to support an innovative product and business 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 extended to an organization graduating from the EEP Trust Fund managed by NDF. It is a clear demonstration that we are ready to ship on the new NDF Strategy and its commitment to supply versatile and scalable financing as nicely as catalytic influence. It has all the components that outline NDFs added value in the climate financing panorama. It demonstrates our capability to convene and mobilise further financing, as properly as our distinctive mi of financing devices to match the needs of our companions, public or personal. pressure gauge octa are proud to be standing with our companions and supporting the emergence of a greener financial system, precisely presently of COVID-19.
Since our first funding in 2019, SunCulture has made huge strides to unlock the potential of smallholder agriculture through revolutionary merchandise and consumer credit. FEI-OGEF is joyful to find a way to refinance our inventor mortgage into this new working capital facility and proceed that development alongside a dedicated and constructive group of lenders, noted Harr Guinness from Lions Head.
READ: SunCulture partner with Togo to hurry up access to sustainable solar-powered farming
Judith Santbergen, Senior Investment Manager at AlphaMundi, said: “Since 2018, AlphaMundi has successively provided assist to SunCulture via a mixture of technical help and debt investment. We are excited to continue and improve our funding in the firm through this new, revolutionary working capital facility.
Sjoerd Melsert, Senior Investment Manager at Triodos Investment Management, mentioned: “SunCulture is a great instance of an innovative company that is active on the nexus of renewable vitality and agriculture, utilizing photo voltaic vitality to increase farmers’ incomes. Our facility supports the additional growth of SunCultures pay-as-you-go photo voltaic portfolio, resulting in a extra sustainable and higher manufacturing for smallholder farmers, which is full aligned with the mission, ambition and actions of Hivos-Triodos Fund.”
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