Sun King, the world’s largest off-grid solar company, has secured US$156m in financing to expand affordable solar access across Kenya.
The deal, backed by Citigroup Inc. and British International Investment, marks the largest securitisation of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa and the first primarily backed by commercial banks in the region.
Other participants include Stanbic Bank Kenya, Absa Group, Co-operative Bank of Kenya, KCB Bank Kenya, Dutch development bank FMO, and Norfund.
The financing will support Sun King’s pay-as-you-go solar model, enabling approximately 1.4m low-income households and businesses to transition from expensive, polluting fuels like kerosene and diesel to solar power.
“This deal signals a major turning point for green energy finance in Africa,” said Anish Thakkar, co-founder of Sun King. “It shows that African commercial banks believe in the power of pay-as-you-go solar and are ready to back it with serious capital.”
Sun King sells solar kits with batteries and collects payments over about a year, typically costing users around $0.19 a day. The equipment lasts up to a decade. The company has also secured funding for projects in Nigeria and Tanzania.
“This securitisation demonstrates the effectiveness of pay-as-you-go business models to reach underserved communities at scale,” said Jorge Rubio Nava, Citi’s global head of social finance.
Kenya is one of the few sub-Saharan African countries on track for universal electricity access by 2030, with rooftop solar playing a growing role, according to the International Energy Agency.
