Provider of household products and affordable finance for low-income households, d.light, has secured a new $176 million (Sh22.9 billion) facility to grow its operations in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The financing, provided by African Frontier Capital, will help scale up d.light's PayGo consumer finance offering to make solar-powered products more accessible to households without electricity.
The pay-as-you-go model has taken off in East Africa’s energy sector, enabling low-income rural households to rent, and later own, home solar power systems.
This multi-currency facility aims to provide renewable energy to approximately six million people across the three countries over the next three years.
With this addition, d.light has now secured a total of $718 million (Sh93.5billion) across five facilities since 2020.
The firm's CEO Nedjip Tozun said that the facility marks the first time d.light has receivables-based financing in all its PayGo markets, ensuring consistent cash flow and eliminating the need for further external equity fundraising.
“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,” said Tozun.
d.light has been active in sub-Saharan Africa since 2010, with operations in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Earlier this year, its Brighter Life Kenya 1 Limited facility repaid its senior debt ahead of schedule, a first in the off-grid solar sector.
African Frontier Capital CEO Eric De Moudt praised the milestone, emphasizing the role of financial innovation in bringing clean energy and financial inclusion to vulnerable communities.
“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," said AFC’s founder and CEO, Eric De Moudt.
Th firm has over the past years used securitised finance to support its solar-powered household products in sub-Saharan Africa.
It has previously set up four facilities, beginning in 2020 and including two in Kenya and one each in Nigeria and Tanzania.
The combined purchasing value of these existing facilities plus the new facility is USD$718 million (Sh93.5billion).
Earlier this year, in February, d.light announced that its USD$110 million (Sh14.2billion) securitization facility, Brighter Life Kenya 1 Limited (BLK1) successfully repaid its entire senior debt in full and ahead of schedule from internally generated cash flows - the first facility in the off-grid solar sector to do so.
