d.light, an off-grid solar product provider, has closed a new $176 million securitised financing facility to support and develop its PayGo consumer loan offering in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

According to the firm, the facility will enable it to provide reliable, renewable energy to an estimated six million people in three nations over the next three years.

African Frontier Capital, a social impact asset management firm, is providing the fresh financing.

d.light had already established four securitised credit facilities to assist make its solar-powered household products more affordable in Sub-Saharan Africa, beginning in 2020 with two in Kenya and one each in Nigeria and Tanzania.

The aggregate purchase value of the existing facilities and the new facility is $718 million.

Commenting on the news, 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.”

Tozun continued, “With this new facility, d.light has for the first time in its history receivables-based financing facilities in each of our PayGo markets - Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria. These facilities allow d.light to remain consistently cash flow positive and remove the requirement for further external equity fundraising to fund our growth."

For Eric De Moudt, founder and CEO of African Frontier Capital, this milestone demonstrates how data-driven financial innovation can play an important role in bringing financial inclusion to the world's most vulnerable communities, allowing them to gain access to clean and modern energy and the resulting social and economic benefits. 

"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,” he said.