UK Solar company Bboxx secures KES 1.6 billion (USD 15 million) loan from SBM Bank Kenya to finance affordable solar home systems for nearly 500,000 Kenyans. This comes just a few days after Bboxx signed a USD 5.5 million loan with Africa Go Green Fund to support the rollout of renewable energy and clean cooking systems across Africa.
The loan from SMB Bank Kenya that Bboxx is getting is partially guaranteed (75%) by GuarantCo [a subsidiary of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG)].
This funding is expected to have wider market benefits by becoming a blueprint for domestic banks to improve their appetite to lend to the private energy sector.
This financing from SMB Kenya will be used by Bboxx Kenya over the next two years to bring 89,600 solar home systems and essential appliances such as fridges and phones to be of use These are expected to 470,000 people. 80 per cent of whom live in rural areas and usually use torches and polluting fuel, such as wood and kerosene, as their main source of lighting.
This deal between Bboxx Kenya and SMB Kenya will reinforce and improve the country’s progress with its energy gap. A common theme with many African countries. Kenya’s electrification rate is around 70%. However, there is some disparity between urban (90%) and rural regions (60%). Kenya developed a National Electrification Strategy in 2018 as part of the Government of Kenya’s efforts to enhance off-grid electrification within the country. The Kenyan Government has ambitions to establish two million new off-grid energy connections by 2022 using solar home systems and mini-grids.
Bboxx Kenya currently employs 350 workers. With 40% of employees being women. Bboxx believes that witht this new financing it can maintain this its current ratio of female employes in its workforce, even as it grows its service to provide access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy to Africans.
Announcing the finance package today, Bboxx said the cash would pay for equipment including 89,600 solar home systems plus appliances such as solar-powered telephones and fridges, with all of the gear destined for Kenya and some 80% of the anticipated 470,000 people to benefit living in rural areas. The company added, the finance will also lead to the creation of 100 new long-term jobs in the country.
Here’s what Bboxx chief executive Mansoor Hamayun had to say abou the funding:
“We are very pleased to partner with GuarantCo and SBM Bank to accelerate access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy to hundreds of thousands of Kenyans. This fund marks a big milestone in our industry’s history. This transaction shows what is possible to achieve when forging partnerships between different stakeholders to mobilize private capital to the energy sector.”
Expanding in Subsaharan Africa
Days before before the loan financing deal with SMB Kenya, BBbox got a loan of $5.5 Million from the Africa Go Green Fund for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (AGG).
Bboxx secured this medium-term loan to deploy its clean energy access solutions all across Africa.
With this loan, Bboxx will roll out its solar home systems and green cooking solutions across sub-Saharan Africa.
UK company, Bboxx employs more than 1,000 people worldwide.
It provides its services in african countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Togo and Burkina Faso.
The Africa Go Green Fund for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency is a fund launched by the German Development Agency (KfW). Which makes private investments into entities that mitigate or reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Bboxx provides two energy access products that are environmentally friendly especially for rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa.
The first Bboxx energy product is a solar home system (SHS) that provides household electrification.
The SHS is essentially composed of solar panels and electricity storage devices.
These Bboxx stand-alone solar home systems are accessible through the pay-as-you-go model that is becoming very popular with solar solutions providers in Africa.
The second Bboxx enegy product is an environmentally friendly cooking solution that runs on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
This cooking solution is an alternative to the firewood and charcoal mostly used by those living in rural areas. Besides, firewood and charcoal use can cause deforestation.
AGG believes that its loan to Bboxx will areduce CO2 emissions by 760,000 tons, equivalent to the emissions of 150,000 personal cars driven regularly over a one-year period.
Heres what CEO and founder of Bboxxm, Mansoor Hamayun, had to say about the deal:
“With the climate crisis continuing to accelerate, it is more vital than ever to accelerate the provision of clean energy for all, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) which calls for clean energy for all,”
In a region where a large portion of the population live without access to electricity or clean cooking facilities, Mansoor’s statement couldn’t be more true.
Bboxx will use this loan facility to accelerate the delivery of affordable clean electricity and clean cooking solutions across Africa.
Bboxx has already impacted the lives of over 2 million people, with its new ecpansion plans and funding you can expect the companyincrease this number significantly.
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