SunCulture, a photo voltaic irrigation company headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, has acquired the first disbursement from a model new US $11m syndicated debt facility to expand its operations in sub-Saharan Africa.
The new loan is groundbreaking for the productive use solar sector as a end result of its measurement and its progressive combination of working capital and end-user financing.
Arranged by SunFunder, the co-investors within 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 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 substitute diesel pumps with solar ones whilst facilitating income development and job opportunities in rural communities.
SunCulture 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 services, trendy local weather technology, and access to enhance productiveness. A current report developed b Dalberg Research reveals that irrigation systems and solar-powered water pumps can increase farmers manufacturing between 2 and four occasions, and their revenue 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 monetary place as a outcome of pandemic. 81% of SunCulture farmers, nonetheless, had been in a position to enhance their revenue from farming in 2020. Solar irrigation helps create meals safety and sovereignty, and it additionally helps carry people out of poverty. This facility additional enables our efforts to support farmers by offering them with more of our solar 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 labored nicely collectively for a standard aim: to assist SunCulture attain man more farmers. It shows how working capital may be mixed with finish user financing, which is crucial for making productive use applied sciences reasonably priced.”
Surabhi Mathur Visser, Head of Investments at SunFunder, said: 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 business model. We look ahead to seeing SunCulture develop in Kenya and ne markets.
Karin Isaksson, Managing Director at NDF, mentioned: “This loan 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 brand new NDF Strategy and its dedication to supply flexible and scalable financing in addition to catalytic influence. It has all of the ingredients that outline NDFs added value in 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 needs of our partners, public or non-public. We are proud to be standing with our companions and supporting the emergence of a greener financial system, precisely right now of COVID-19.
Since our first investment in 2019, SunCulture has made big strides to unlock the potential of smallholder agriculture via progressive products and shopper credit. FEI-OGEF is เกจวัดแรงดัน250bar to find a way to refinance our inventor loan into this new working capital facility and continue that progress alongside a committed and constructive group of lenders, noted Harr Guinness from Lions Head.
READ: SunCulture associate with Togo to speed up access to sustainable solar-powered farming
Judith Santbergen, Senior Investment Manager at AlphaMundi, stated: “Since 2018, AlphaMundi has successively offered support to SunCulture via a combination of technical assistance and debt investment. We are excited to proceed and improve our funding within the firm through this new, revolutionary working capital facility.
Sjoerd Melsert, Senior Investment Manager at Triodos Investment Management, said: “SunCulture is a superb example of an revolutionary firm that’s lively on the nexus of renewable power and agriculture, utilizing solar vitality to extend farmers’ incomes. Our facility helps the additional development of SunCultures pay-as-you-go solar portfolio, leading to a extra sustainable and higher production for smallholder farmers, which is full aligned with the mission, ambition and actions of Hivos-Triodos Fund.”
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