SunCulture, a solar irrigation firm headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, has acquired the primary 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 solar sector due to 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, via its Hivos-Triodos Fund; SunFunder via its Solar Energy Transformation Fund; AlphaMundi by way of 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 sick mitigate over 20,000 tons of CO2 yearly as farmers replace diesel pumps with photo voltaic ones while facilitating income development and job opportunities in rural communities.
SunCulture has pioneered a Pay-As-You-Gro enterprise mannequin to make solar-powered irrigation inexpensive for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, combining end-user finance, value-added services, trendy climate technology, and entry to enhance productiveness. A latest report developed b Dalberg Research exhibits that irrigation systems and solar-powered water pumps can increase farmers production between 2 and 4 instances, and their revenue between 2 and 6 occasions.
READ: SunCulture to distribute solar-powered water pumps throughout Africa
Samir Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer at SunCulture, said: “The previous yr was devastating for the millions of smallholder farmers in Kenya; 87% are in a worse financial place because of the pandemic. 81% of SunCulture farmers, nonetheless, were capable of enhance their revenue from farming in 2020. Solar irrigation helps create food safety and sovereignty, and it also helps lift people out of poverty. This facility additional enables our efforts to support farmers by providing them with more of our photo voltaic options, and faster.”
Jemimah Kwakye-Fosu, Investment Officer, who led the transaction for SunFunder, said: “We are delighted to have led this syndicate of proactive lenders who labored well together for a common objective: to assist SunCulture attain man extra farmers. It shows how working capital may be combined with end person financing, which is essential for making productive use applied sciences inexpensive.”
Surabhi Mathur Visser, Head of Investments at SunFunder, stated: 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 mannequin. We sit up for seeing SunCulture develop in Kenya and ne markets.
Karin Isaksson, Managing Director at NDF, mentioned: “This loan 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 deliver on the new NDF Strategy and its commitment to offer flexible and scalable financing in addition to catalytic influence. It has all of the ingredients that define NDFs added worth in the climate financing landscape. It demonstrates our capability to convene and mobilise additional financing, as well as our unique mi of financing instruments to match the wants of our companions, public or non-public. เกจวัดแรงดันลม10bar are proud to be standing with our partners and supporting the emergence of a greener economy, exactly presently of COVID-19.
Since our first investment in 2019, SunCulture has made large strides to unlock the potential of smallholder agriculture via revolutionary products and shopper credit. FEI-OGEF is happy to have the flexibility to refinance our inventor mortgage into this new working capital facility and continue that growth alongside a committed and constructive group of lenders, famous Harr Guinness from Lions Head.
READ: SunCulture companion with Togo to speed up entry to sustainable solar-powered farming
Judith Santbergen, Senior Investment Manager at AlphaMundi, mentioned: “Since 2018, AlphaMundi has successively offered support to SunCulture via a combination of technical help and debt investment. We are excited to continue and enhance our investment within the firm via this new, revolutionary working capital facility.
Sjoerd Melsert, Senior Investment Manager at Triodos Investment Management, mentioned: “SunCulture is a good instance of an progressive company that’s lively on the nexus of renewable energy and agriculture, utilizing solar power to increase farmers’ incomes. เกจวัดแรงดันออกซิเจนราคา supports the further growth of SunCultures pay-as-you-go solar portfolio, resulting in a more 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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