Cleantech firm d.light, a trailblazer in providing off-grid solar solutions to underserved households, has revealed securing $125 million in funding through a securitization facility.
This financing initiative aims to cater to the increasing demand for off-grid solar products in Tanzania, according to reports.
Established in 2007 at Stanford, California, with headquarters in Nairobi and Palo Alto, California, d.light specializes in offering a diverse array of off-grid solar products tailored for low-income families.
Their product range encompasses solar-powered lanterns, cookstoves, and solar home systems, as well as TVs, radios and smartphones.
In addition to its solar products, d.light also operates a consumer finance division.
“The recent funding injection is earmarked to support the expansion of their affordable PayGo personal finance services. This expansion includes a substantial boost to their existing securitized financing platform in Tanzania. This move escalates d.light’s cumulative securitized funding to $490 million since 2020.”
The funding mechanism in Tanzania leverages the payments made by existing and future d.light customers who utilize the Pay-Go service to purchase solar products.
These funds will be utilized to amplify the company’s operations and market presence in the country.
This funding endeavour in Tanzania is underpinned by the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group).
Collaborating with lending partner African Frontier Capital (AFC), d.light is utilizing the incoming capital as a foundation for a novel financing entity named Brighter Life Tanzania 1 Limited (BLT1).
Earlier in May, the company celebrated reaching an impressive milestone of serving 150 million customers and selling over 30 million products.
Chief Executive Office (Office (CEO) of d.light, Nick Imudia remarked, “The funding from TDB enables us to extend the benefits of our Pay-Go business to more low-income families in Tanzania in a manner that remains affordable for our customers and sustainable for our company.”
He went on to state, “d.light and our lending partners have been pioneers in advancing securitized finance as an innovative and scalable funding model. This model leverages current and future customer sales to secure equity for off-grid solar projects. Having successfully deployed this approach in Kenya for several years, we are now expanding it to Tanzania in collaboration with our partners.”
Michael Awori, CEO of TDB, emphasized, “Energy access is pivotal to the sustainable advancement of the continent, particularly for underserved off-grid communities. As a prominent financier in the renewable energy sector within the region, we are pleased to extend this second facility to d.light, this time in Tanzania.”
Founder and CEO of AFC, Eric De Moudt expressed his satisfaction, stating, “We are excited to introduce our latest social impact securitization initiative, BLT1, which not only extends our avant-garde off-balance sheet securitization structures into new jurisdictions for d.light but also increases the total volume of locally denominated receivables financed to nearly $500 million.”