SunCulture receives boost for solar irrigation expansion in Africa

SunCulture, a photo voltaic irrigation firm headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, has obtained the first disbursement from a 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 because of its size and its progressive 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 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 vitality installations at smallholder farms and households that ill mitigate over 20,000 tons of CO2 yearly as farmers replace diesel pumps with photo voltaic ones while facilitating income progress and job alternatives 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, modern local weather technology, and entry to improve 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 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 previous year was devastating for the millions of smallholder farmers in Kenya; 87% are in a worse monetary position because of the pandemic. 81% of SunCulture farmers, however, were capable of increase their income from farming in 2020. Solar irrigation helps create food security and sovereignty, and it additionally helps lift folks out of poverty. This facility further enables our efforts to assist farmers by offering them with extra 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 worked nicely collectively for a typical objective: to assist SunCulture reach man extra farmers. It exhibits how working capital could be mixed with end consumer financing, which is essential for making productive use technologies reasonably priced.”
Surabhi Mathur Visser, Head of Investments at SunFunder, said: This is a pioneering transaction that demonstrates how productive use applied sciences like photo voltaic irrigation can be scaled up. SunFunder arranged this facility with a similar-minded group of lenders to support an progressive product and business mannequin. 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 extended to a company graduating from the EEP Trust Fund managed by NDF. It is a transparent demonstration that we are in a position to deliver on the new NDF Strategy and its commitment to supply flexible and scalable financing in addition to catalytic impact. It has all the ingredients that define NDFs added value in the local weather financing panorama. It demonstrates our capability to convene and mobilise extra financing, as properly as our unique mi of financing instruments to match the needs of our partners, public or private. pressure gauge วัด แรง ดัน are proud to be standing with our companions and supporting the emergence of a greener economic system, precisely presently of COVID-19.
Since our first investment in 2019, SunCulture has made huge strides to unlock the potential of smallholder agriculture through revolutionary products and consumer credit. FEI-OGEF is joyful to have the ability to refinance our inventor loan into this new working capital facility and continue that development alongside a dedicated 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, said: “Since 2018, AlphaMundi has successively offered support to SunCulture by way of a mix of technical assistance and debt investment. We are excited to continue and improve our funding within the company by way of this new, revolutionary working capital facility.
Sjoerd Melsert, Senior Investment Manager at Triodos Investment Management, stated: “SunCulture is a superb example of an progressive firm that’s active on the nexus of renewable vitality and agriculture, utilizing solar vitality to increase farmers’ incomes. Our facility supports the further progress of SunCultures pay-as-you-go solar portfolio, resulting in 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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