Global off-grid solar company BBOXX has closed on a US$5 million financing facility with Deutsche Asset Management’s fund Essential Capital Consortium that will help it bring off-grid power to 150,000 Rwandans.
The financing will be managed in country by Atlas Mara’s Rwandan entity, Banque Populaire du Rwanda (BPR), which is already a lender to BBOXX.
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BBOXX claimed that this trilateral deal is the first of its kind in the sector. It had already closed the first local currency financing deal with BPR earlier this year, and two years ago, it also became the first to securitise an off-grid solar home portfolio.
The firm already has 250,000 existing customers in Rwanda.
Monica Keza, managing director of BBOXX Rwanda, said: “We are excited to partner with another top tier investor to continue providing the most comprehensive off-grid solution at an affordable price in Rwanda, accelerating the government of Rwanda’s vision of universal energy access. This deal proves global financial institutions are eager to partner to catalyse off-grid solar in Rwanda and East Africa more broadly. What we have done is not just unique structurally, it is unique for the entire industry.”
The facility will be further supported by guarantees from the African Guarantee Fund and USAID’s DCA facility and a foreign exchange swap from MFX Solutions.
BBOXX also recently signed a partnership with the Government of Togo to deploy 300,000 systems. It also recently closed a US$20 million Series C investment to help spur growth in its existing markets in Kenya and Rwanda, as well as investing US$200,000 in EcoEnergy, a solar energy provider focused on rural Pakistan.