- Dutch impact investor Oikocredit is providing a $5 million loan to Yellow.
- The funding will support the roll-out of Yellow’s solar home systems in at least four countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Yellow is obtaining funding to increase its operations in sub-Saharan Africa. The $5 million loan was provided by Utrecht, Netherlands-based impact investor Oikocredit. Yellow wants to use this financing to expand its activities throughout East Africa, specifically in Rwanda, Zambia, Uganda, and Malawi. The Cape Town, South Africa-based company distributes solar household systems using technology.
“This loan will allow us to access local currency financing in several jurisdictions, giving our company more room to serve more and better customers,” says Michael Heyink, Yellow’s founder and chief executive officer. According to the African Development Bank, the company uses solar kits to hasten electrification on a continent where 600 million people lack access to electricity (AfDB).
Yellow launched in 2018, and since then has sold 300,000 solar kits, giving 1.5 million people access to electricity. Through a network of 1,200 agents, the organization is expanding across East Africa.