Mirova SunFunder announced a $2.7 million debt facility for Distributed Power Africa (DPA) Kenya Limited, a business of Cassava Technologies to deploy solar energy solutions to commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in Kenya.
The loan facility will be structured with DPA Kenya Limited, whose other main shareholder is EDF (Électricité de France), one of the world’s largest energy companies. It will enable the organization to unlock more solar energy solutions for their customers in the C&I sector and ensure increased access to renewable energy solutions that are much needed on the continent. DPA expects to deploy approximately 3MW of new installed solar capacity utilizing the loan facility.
“We are excited to partner Mirova SunFunder in unlocking financing for scaling up energy for Africa. We believe energy is a fundamental pillar in supporting Africa’s economic development. With this financial investment, we will witness a remarkable uptake of renewable energy and increase business efficiencies in Kenya.”
Norman Moyo, Chief Executive Officer of Distributed Power Africa, commented: “For Mirova SunFunder, this is another milestone in expanding our provision of debt facilities in the Kenyan market through our Solar Energy Transformation (SET) Fund, which has been fully deployed. To further accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and climate solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and other emerging markets we are working on a project of a new $500 million fund, the Mirova Gigaton Fund.
“Mirova SunFunder’s local presence and financial expertise combined with the extensive customer pipeline of a leading pan-African company like DPA will accelerate the scaling of cost-effective solar energy solutions to businesses in Kenya,” he added.
Audrey Desiderato, Mirova SunFunder’s co-founder and COO said: “We are happy to have kicked off an important relationship with DPA Kenya, at a time when climate change is a reality for all of us. We have seen a growing demand for solar in the C&I sector in Kenya, and we believe this facility will enable DPA to execute on their growing pipeline.”
Jemimah Kwakye-Fosu, who led the transaction for Mirova SunFunder, added: “DPA has vigorously engaged C&I businesses to adopt hybrid solar energy and lithium battery technology for energy resilience, increased business efficiencies and improved carbon footprints. The company is deploying energy projects across their markets in Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa, making great strides in data centers, telecom switching centers, telecom towers, manufacturing plants, hospitals, and other large industrial users.”