SunCulture, a photo voltaic irrigation firm headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, has received the first disbursement from a new US $11m syndicated debt facility to expand its operations in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new mortgage is groundbreaking for the productive use solar sector because of its size and its innovative combination of working capital and end-user financing.
Arranged by SunFunder, the co-investors within the facility are Nordic Development Fund; Triodos Investment Management, through its Hivos-Triodos Fund; SunFunder via 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 enable SunCulture to scale up renewable energy installations at smallholder farms and households that unwell mitigate over 20,000 tons of CO2 yearly as farmers substitute diesel pumps with photo voltaic ones while facilitating income growth and job opportunities 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 climate expertise, and entry to enhance productiveness. A recent report developed b Dalberg Research shows that irrigation techniques and solar-powered water pumps can enhance farmers manufacturing between 2 and four instances, 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 place as a outcome of pandemic. 81% of SunCulture farmers, nevertheless, have been able to increase their income from farming in 2020. Solar irrigation helps create meals safety and sovereignty, and it also helps lift individuals out of poverty. This facility additional allows our efforts to help farmers by offering them with extra of our photo voltaic solutions, and faster.”
Jemimah Kwakye-Fosu, Investment Officer, who led the transaction for SunFunder, stated: “We are delighted to have led this syndicate of proactive lenders who worked properly collectively for a typical objective: to assist SunCulture attain man extra farmers. It reveals how working capital can be mixed with finish person financing, which is important for making productive use applied sciences 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 may be scaled up. SunFunder organized this facility with a similar-minded group of lenders to assist an innovative product and enterprise mannequin. ขนาดpressuregauge look forward to seeing SunCulture develop in Kenya and ne markets.
Karin Isaksson, Managing Director at NDF, mentioned: “This mortgage to SunCulture is the second extended to a company graduating from the EEP Trust Fund managed by NDF. It is a clear demonstration that we are able to ship on the brand new NDF Strategy and its commitment to offer versatile and scalable financing as nicely as catalytic impression. It has all the elements that outline NDFs added worth within the climate financing panorama. It demonstrates our capability to convene and mobilise extra financing, in addition to our distinctive mi of financing instruments to match the needs of our companions, public or personal. We are proud to be standing with our companions and supporting the emergence of a greener economic system, exactly at this time of COVID-19.
Since our first funding in 2019, SunCulture has made big strides to unlock the potential of smallholder agriculture via innovative products and client credit score. FEI-OGEF is joyful to have the power to refinance our inventor mortgage into this new working capital facility and continue that development alongside a committed and constructive group of lenders, famous 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, mentioned: “Since 2018, AlphaMundi has successively supplied assist to SunCulture by way of a mixture of technical assistance and debt investment. We are excited to proceed and enhance our funding within the firm via this new, revolutionary working capital facility.
Sjoerd Melsert, Senior Investment Manager at Triodos Investment Management, mentioned: “SunCulture is a great instance of an revolutionary company that’s energetic on the nexus of renewable vitality and agriculture, using photo voltaic vitality to increase farmers’ incomes. Our facility supports the further progress of SunCultures pay-as-you-go photo voltaic portfolio, leading to 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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