d.light has announced the closing of a new facility that will purchase USD 176 million (Ksh. 22 billion) of receivables in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The new financing is being provided by social impact-focused asset management company African Frontier Capital.
d.light will use the facility to scale up its PayGo consumer finance offering to make solar-powered products available to more low-income households and communities without access to electricity. The facility is multi-currency, and will enable access to reliable, renewable energy for an estimated six million people across the three countries over the next three years. The company is a global leader in making products available and affordable to low-income families. To date, it has sold nearly 30 million products, including solar lanterns, solar home systems, TVs, radios, and smartphones, impacting the lives of over 150 million people.
The company has a proven track record in the use of securitized finance to support its solar-powered household products in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, it has previously set up four facilities, beginning in 2020 and including two in Kenya and one each in Nigeria and Tanzania.
Earlier in February this year, d.light announced that its USD 110 million (Ksh. 14 million) securitization facility, Brighter Life Kenya 1 Limited (BLK1) successfully repaid its entire senior debt in full and ahead of schedule. According to the company, the entire repayment was generated from internal cash flows.
Commenting on the new development, d.light CEO Nedjip Tozun said, “This new facility is another landmark step in d.light’s mission to provide people with affordable energy that is also clean, safe and sustainable. It lets us expand our reach so that millions of off-grid families across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda can experience the benefits of solar energy. Facilities like this make possible our pioneering PayGo consumer financing model with which we are able to offer solar home systems and high efficiency appliances to the people that need them most in a way that is affordable and sustainable.”
On his part, Eric De Moudt, AFC’s founder and CEO said, “This milestone is a testament to how data-driven financial innovation can play an important role in bringing financial inclusion to the world’s most vulnerable communities, helping them to gain access to clean and modern energy and the ensuing social and economic benefits that come about as a result. We are grateful to d.light for its ongoing leadership in the off-grid solar sector and proud to partner with such a visionary company.”