- SunCulture has received an $11 million line of credit to boost its expansion across sub-Saharan Africa.
- SunCulture combines mobile banking technology with pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financing to provide solar solutions to rural farmers.
- This funds will lead to the reduction of CO2 emissions by up to 20,000 tonnes annually.
Kenyan solar irrigation startup SunCulture has been awarded an $11 million line of credit. The company intends to expand its operations across sub-Saharan Africa.
The financing facility was arranged by an investment company SunFinder. Other investment partners include the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Energy Inclusion Facility’s (OGEF) Off-Grid Energy Access Fund; Triodos Investment Management, the Danish government’s Nordic Development Fund (NDF); and investment company AlphaMundi.
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SunCulture was founded in 2013 to provide solar solutions tailored to small farmers via mobile banking technology and pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financing across Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zambia Senegal, Togo, and Ivory Coast.
SunCulture believes that these funds will reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 20,000 tonnes per year as farmers replace fossil fuel pumps with solar-powered pumps. It is also expected that this will facilitate growth and increase job opportunities in rural communities.
Samir Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer at SunCulture, noted that despite the devastating effects of 2020 on smallholder farmers in Kenya (87 per cent of farmers are in a worse financial position due to the pandemic) 81 per cent of SunCulture farmers, however, were able to increase their revenue in 2020. He stated that “Solar irrigation helps create food security and sovereignty, and it also helps lift people out of poverty. This facility further enables our efforts to support farmers by providing them with more of our solar solutions and faster.”