NIRSAL CBN

CBN/NIRSAL reopens portal for MSMEs, Individuals To Access Up To N25m

by with No Comment BusinessfinanceNews

GoldenNewsNg reports that  CBN/NIRSAL has reopened its portal for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

READ ALSO: Corporate oil, gas deals in Nigeria fall to lowest in 5yrs

And households affected by COVID-19 to access up to N25 million.

This was disclosed by the Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, via his Twitter handle on Wednesday.

He tweeted, “The CBN, through @NirsalMFB introduces a stimulus package to support households and MSMEs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. An individual can access up to N25million.” CBN/NIRSAL.

The Federal Government had announced that the MSME Survival Fund Payroll Support Portal would be exceptionally reopened for 30 states that had been unable to meet their quotas.

The government, in its announcement, said that the scheme is aimed at supporting vulnerable MSMEs in the payroll obligations of over 500,000 employees

by pandemic

What you should know

  • The Federal Government had announced that the MSME Survival Fund Payroll Support Portal would be exceptionally reopened for 30 states that had been unable to meet their quotas, according to Nairametrics.
  • The government, in its announcement, said that the scheme is aimed at supporting vulnerable MSMEs in the payroll obligations of over 500,000 employees.

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Gas deals

Corporate oil, gas deals in Nigeria fall to lowest in 5yrs

by with No Comment News

The scale of corporate deals between privately held businesses and their investors in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector is at the lowest ebb in five years, as transactions hit a low of $123 billion in 2020, a sharp decline compared to a record high of $301 billion recorded in 2018.

READ ALSO: Why investors flock to Ikoyi, V.I despite challenges…

This is troubling because oil and gas sector deals such as mergers, acquisitions, asset sales, debt financing, among others, drive investments, improve infrastructure, technical expertise, and grow the economy, thus improving living standards.

According to data from IHS Markit, a London–based energy information resource, Nigeria recorded 82 oil and gas deals last year worth $123 billion, a 69 percent decrease compared to 138 deals valued at $208 billion in 2019.

The data also show that 2018 was Nigeria’s best performing year in the last six years with a total deal volume of 183 deals valued at $301 billion. This is lower when compared to $182 billion, $201 billion, and $196 billion recorded in 2017, 2016, and 2015, respectively.

A further breakdown of 2020 data reveals that the upstream sector accounted for about 45 percent of all deals recorded followed by the midstream sector with 26 percent, while the downstream sector and oil field service accounted for 24 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Although investors in Nigeria’s energy sector are not immune to the economic effect of coronavirus and the impact of lower oil prices, which made acquisition financing much harder last year compared to previous years, however, experts say their fortunes are made worse by a regressive fiscal regime and increasing risk profile.

“Price volatility, tough fiscal regime, rough business environment, and lack of capacity are some of the biggest challenges facing Nigeria’s oil and gas deals in 2020,” Joe Nwakwue, chairman, Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) said.

In 2019 deals, IHS Markit showed the upstream sector was also responsible for the lion share of about 52 percent of total deals followed closely by the midstream sector accounting for about 40 percent, while oil field service and downstream sector account for the remaining share of 4 percent each.

“Nigeria needs to put the right fiscal regime that will make projects more valuable in the midstream and downstream sector which would attract the right kind investment,” Nwakwue said.

Elias & Co, a business law firm with specialty in mergers and acquisitions, said transactions in the energy sector had been less busy lately compared to six years ago.

“It is far from being inactive,” analysts at Elias & Co said in a note.

Mergers and acquisitions in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector have slowed in recent years after an initial surge two years ago when some indigenous players, buoyed by the Federal Government’s initiatives, took advantage of some divestment opportunities by international oil companies operating in the country.

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Investors

Why investors flock to Ikoyi, VI despite challenges…

by with No Comment BusinessNews

Despite the challenges in the Nigerian real estate market that are deeper in highbrow locations or up-market neighbourhoods, Ikoyi and Victoria Island in Lagos remain attractive destinations for investors.

READ ALSO: PMI: Business Conditions in Nigeria Show Improvement

These two locations, home for luxury real estate, have seen challenges reflected in over-supply interspersed with falling demand and widening vacancy rate, which, as at the end of 2020, was estimated at 40 percent for residential properties.

But returns on investment, especially for small size family housing units like studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, have been good and encouraging compared to other locations.

Lay-offs, pay-cuts and economic downturn made worse by the crippling impact of COVID-19 pandemic have left consumers with shrinking wallets and low purchasing power, leading to buyers and tenants’ preference of apartment units to duplexes, maissonettes and large luxury homes.

For this reason, multi-family units, specifically apartments, top consideration for most investors in these locations. “Apartments make more economic sense to developers, more so as multiple units can be developed on a piece of land without taking up too much space,” David Mba, former manager, commercial sales at Fine & Country, explains to BusinessDay.

“Returns are higher for smaller apartment units, especially 2-bedroom, which means that demand is more for these house-types than the big-size apartments,” he states.

According to Mba, Ikoyi and Victoria Island are “promising destinations,” but the consideration has to be on smaller-unit apartments. “Any investor wanting to enter the market amid the COVID-19 pandemic should look in that direction,” he advised.

On the average, rental values in Victoria Island as at the end of 2020 stood at N1.5 million per annum for 1-bedroom apartment; N3.5 – N8.5 million for 2-bedroom; N5.5 – N15 million for 3-bedroom and N6 – N25 million for 4-bedroom apartment.

In Ikoyi, it is N4 – N5 million per annum for 1-bedroom; N6.5 million for 2-bedroom; N10 million for 3-bedroom, and N10 – N25 million for 4-bedroom apartment.

Return on investment on these apartments, according to Mbah, is quite significant. In Victoria Island, the return on the different apartment sizes stood at 2.7—3.7 percent per annum for 1-bedroom; 7—10 percent for 2-bedroom; 6.1—10 percent for 3-bedroom; 6.1—9.2 percent for 4-bedroom duplex and 3.75—6 percent for 4-bedroom terrace.

In Ikoyi, it is 9 percent for 1-bedroom; 5.4—8.6 percent for 2-bedroom; 5.3—8 percent for 3-bedroom; 4.5—8.3 percent for 4-bedroom duplex and 4.8—5-4 percent for 4-bedroom terrace.

Though most real estate investors aim for over 10 percent or 12 percent return on their investment, experts say anything above 8 percent is good.

Lekki is another Island location in Lagos where return on investment is good and encouraging. Chiedu Nweke, CEO, Periwinkle Residences Limited, argues that returns in the Lekki corridor is the highest in Lagos, but records show that Ikoyi, particularly, is still ahead.

“This is because whether you are talking about Ikoyi or Victoria Island, the story is the same that these locations remain attractive for reasons other than returns on investment,” Mba says, explaining that talking in terms of strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT), which guide investments, opportunities are more here.

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SON Ports

AfCFTA: SON seeks return to port

by with No Comment BusinessNews

The Director General of Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Malam Farouk Salim, has urged the Federal Government to allow the agency return to the nation’s ports. Salim made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

READ ALSO: Covid-19: Working Conditions Still Precarious

He explained that the move would help the organisation to effectively check the influx of substandard products into the country as trading progresses under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The DG’s call is coming after a decade of the eviction of several government agencies from the ports, following what was seen as ‘a proliferation of agencies at the ports.’ NAN recalls that Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the then Minister of Finance and Coordinating Ministers of the Economy, had in 2011 announced the eviction of the agencies. She said the decision was to fast-track port processes at a time the ports were battling congestion, delays in cargo clearing, which were hindering the ease of doing business policy. However, Salim said for Nigeria to effectively curb the influx of substandard goods, especially as trading under the AfCFTA continues, the SON workforce should be allowed to return to the ports. “We are supposed to ensure that the borders and the ports are monitored properly, and in doing this we protect the country from substandard goods. “One of such ways is to make sure that the employees of SON are in the port of entries in the country, especially the Lagos port where majority of goods comes into this country. “Our people can be efficient if we are allowed to work at the point of entry of these goods, but right now we are not allowed at the ports. “They allow us once in a while to check goods but that should not be the way, because SON as an organisation should not depend on the kindness of other organisations to do its work. “The 2015 Act, Section 7(30b) says the Standard organisation must be at the port of entry into this country,” he said. The DG noted that although there were other agencies of government at the ports, SON has the statutory obligation and the knowledge to identify substandard products. He said if SON was given a permanent access for inspection and enforcement of standards at the ports, the menace of substandard goods in Nigerian market would be greatly reduced. He however noted that the organisation was currently enjoying cordial working relationship with the Nigerian Customs Service and other sister agencies at the ports. “What NAFDAC and the Customs are doing at the ports are totally different from what SON does. “We get along with them very well but we don’t need to depend on them because we are supposed to be in the ports by right, except if the law is changed.

“One of the problems we are having for not being officially allowed into the ports is the inability to provide ordinary offices for our employees. “A typical example is in Port Harcourt where our officers are now squatting with various offices, and every now and then the persons they are squatting with have asked them to leave. “We requested for a space to build our office but we were told we will not be allowed, so we could not build a property befitting of our organisation for our staff,” he said. Salim explained that the SON currently has 42 offices across Nigeria, with 1,700 employees. (NAN)

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YOUTHS

Bulk of young Nigerians shut out of N75bn youth investment fund

by with No Comment financeNews

Bulk of young Nigerians eligible to apply for a loan from a N75-billion Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) are stuck on the waiting list in what may scupper the government’s efforts to create badly needed jobs in Africa’s most populous nation.

READ ALSO: Stock market gains N128bn on renewed buy interest

Since it was set up in October 2020, only 395 youth had benefited from the Fund, which aims to financially empower Nigerian youth to generate at least 500,000 jobs between 2020 and 2023, as at January, according to the government.

In that time, 3 million youths applied for a loan which means only one in every 7,594 youths that applied for the loan was successful.

The number of youths that have applied till January implies that an average of 750,000 people apply every month, which means the number of applicants may have jumped to 4.5 million as at March. If the trend in disbursements is sustained, then only a fraction would have successfully applied.

While the list of beneficiaries has not been published, BusinessDay spoke with one of the applicants, who was frustrated over the delay in accessing the facility.

Amaefule Chinonmso, who is based in Port Harcourt, said he applied for the fund around October or November 2020.

Last month, he got a text message saying he was pre-qualified for the loan but had got no further feedback since then.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that Nigeria’s unemployment rate as at the second quarter of 2020 stood at 27.1 percent with the youth population accounting for about 64 percent of total unemployed Nigerians.

Channel for disbursement

Out of the over 800 microfinance banks in Nigeria, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB) was chosen as the sole eligible participating financial institution for the disbursement of the Fund.

NMFB is a subsidiary of the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL plc), a non-banking financial institution established in 2013 by the CBN with a mandate to facilitate the free flow of affordable finance and investments to the agricultural sector.

Other loans offered by NIRSAL include The Agric, Small Medium Enterprise Scheme (AGSMEIS), Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, and NIRSAL Microfinance Bank Access Target Account, among others.

Who should access the youth fund?

According to the regulatory framework, eligibility criteria for accessing the Fund include, youth within the age bracket of 18-35 years, a youth that has business/enterprises domiciled and operational in Nigeria, has not been convicted of any financial crime in the last 10 years, has a valid Bank Verification Number (BVN), and possesses local government indigene certificate.

The framework stated that applicants currently enjoying NMFB loans, including the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) and Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AgSMEIS) loans that remain unpaid are not eligible to apply.

Beneficiaries of other government loan schemes that remain unpaid are also not eligible to participate.

A huge percentage of youth are engaged in the informal sector. Accordingly, the NYIF will facilitate the transition of informal enterprises owned by youth into the formal mainstream economy where they can be supported comprehensively, build a bankable track record, and be accurately captured as active participants in economic development.

In addition, there is a need for the provision of a business plan summary or completed questionnaires as well as an Entrepreneurship Training Certification from the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD) Entrepreneurship Development Institutes (EDIs).

For registered businesses, these are the requirements: Formal business enterprises (youth-owned enterprises), duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Business plan Summary or Completed Questionnaire, valid BVNs of Directors, Provision of Tax Identification Number (TIN), and Entrepreneurship Training Certification from FMYSD EDIs.

Amount you can access/collateral

As an individual or non-registered business, you can access up to N250,000, while as a registered business (Business Name / Limited Liability / Cooperative Societies/ Commodities Associations) you can have access up to N3,000,000. The interest rate under the intervention is 5 percent per annum (all-inclusive).

In terms of collateral, there is no collateral required but all assets purchased under the scheme must be registered with the National Collateral Registry (NCR). Also, the Global Standing Instruction (GSI) mandate will be activated to ensure full repayment by loan obligor.

How to access NYIF

First step requires applicants to attend compulsory entrepreneurship training with an approved Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD) EDIs. The second step takes successfully trained prospective applicants to NIRSAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB) portal to apply for the loan.

The third step requires eligible applicants to submit applications successfully on NMFB’s portal. Then, NMFB conducts loan assessment in line with Risk Assessment Criteria and programme guidelines, makes appropriate decisions and forward recommended applications to CBN for final approval.

Finally, the CBN reviews applications and gives final approval for disbursement to NMFB. The NYIF has a maximum tenor of not more than 5 years with a one-year moratorium.

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Nigerian Stocks

Stock market gains N128bn on renewed buy interest

by with No Comment financeNews

Investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) are beginning to buy into recent dip as earlier envisaged. This move led to the record positive close on Tuesday March 10.

READ ALSO: Investment in Nigeria’s manufacturing sector down 76% on COVID-19

Investors showed remarkable interests in stocks like Champion Breweries (+8.91 percent ), Neimeth (+8.85percent) and Nahco (+6.64percent).

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation moved up from 38,686.85 points and N20.241trillion respectively on Tuesday to 38,931.25 points and N20.369trillion.

Stock market gains N128bn on renewed buy interest – Businessday NG

The NSE ASI increased by 0.63percent at the close of trading, while the value of listed stocks decreased by N128billion.

In 4,437 deals investors exchanged 368,216,369 units valued at N4.909billion. UBA, FBN Holdings and GTBank were actively traded stocks on the Bourse.

The market’s year-to-date (YtD) negative returns decreased to -3.33percent, while the record dip this month stood at -2.18percent.

SOURCE LINK

Investors in Nigeria’s equities market became worse off in the trading week ended March 5 after booking about N245billion loss as funds moved out of equities due to impressive yields in the fixed income (FI) market.

Investors are now battling with the decision to either buy into the recent dip or to stay out of the market pending when there are major positives capable of reversing the negative trend.

Manufacturing sector

Investment in Nigeria’s manufacturing sector down 76% on COVID-19

by with No Comment BusinessNews

The Nigerian manufacturing sector is still reeling from the effect of COVID-19 as investment inflow into the sector declined by 76 percent in 2020, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN)

READ ALSO: GTBank to challenge Flutterwave, Paystack

In its H2 economic review, MAN revealed that in 2020, manufacturing investments dropped to N118.52 billion representing a 76 percent decline when compared to the N496.11 billion achieved in 2019.

The decline was attributed primarily to the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic which disrupted economic activities globally and locally.

“Manufacturing investment declined in the period following the depressing fallouts from COVID-19 that gave no impetus for new investments in the sector,” the report states

According to MAN, in H1’2020, the sector recorded investment inflow of N62.08 billion, which was a 74 percent decline from the N248.45 billion achieved in H1 2019. In the second half of the year, investments further dipped by 78 percent to N56.44 billion from N257.66 billion realised in the same period of 2019.

The drop in investments also affected the overall performance of the sector, especially as many manufacturing firms were forced to either suspend or shut down operations during the period under review, thereby reducing the number of players in the sector.

“At the moment and following the impact of COVID-19 on productivity, the sector is at the lowest and therefore requires deliberate action to rekindle significant productive activities” the report added.

Emanating from China, the world’s manufacturing powerhouse and Nigeria’s largest trading partner, especially for manufacturing inputs, the COVID-19 pandemic caused an abrupt stop in the supply of raw materials, goods, tools, and machinery for manufacturing companies which forced many of them to suspend business operations.

Furthermore, Brent crude oil which serves as the major provider of the country‘s FX experienced a historic fall during this period, reaching a two-decade low in April at $15.98 a barrel. This drop triggered the prevailing FX shortage and also caused the naira to be greatly devalued thereby impeding the procurement operations of local manufacturers.

Consequently, after two years of consecutive growth, the sector glided to a negative terrain in 2020 with -2.75 percent, which is also the worst experienced since 2016 when the Nigerian economy entered into recession according to the GDP data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The sector’s contribution to GDP as well dropped to 8.99 percent in full-year 2020 as against the 11.64 percent it achieved in 2019.

Furthermore, with Nigeria ranking 131st out of 190 countries surveyed on the 2020 World Bank’s ease of doing business index, business experts assert that due to the recurrent challenges in Nigeria’s business environment and insecurity challenges, investors are forced to take flight for the proverbial greener path, scaring away prospective investors.

Experts, however, believe that investment inflow will improve in the medium to long term following the partial border reopening and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

“The reopening of the land borders should provide succor to the manufacturing sector even as the kick-off of AfCFTA serves as an avenue for manufacturers to penetrate new African markets and for investors to flood the market” Jide Babatope, Lagos-based analyst said.

Beyond the decline in investments, manufacturers suffered a decline in the volume of demand for causing an uptick in the inventory of unsold goods. This is also coming amid the surge in production and operations cost.

MAN revealed that the inventory of unsold manufactured goods in the sector increased by 44 percent to N577.61 billion in 2020 from N402.42 billion recorded in 2019.

In H1’2020, inventory of unsold goods stood at N275.39 billion and it increased significantly to N303.22 billion in the second half of the year.

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GTB Flutterwave

GTBank to challenge Flutterwave, Paystack

by with No Comment BusinessNews

On Wednesday, as the fintech ecosystem in Nigeria was busy celebrating Flutterwave $170 million Series C funding raise, GTBank was out hunting for fintech talents.

READ ALSO: Flutterwave Closes USD $170m Funding

The bank is shopping for talents for its soon-to-be payment company, Habari Pay. In a vacancy advert BusinessDay found on LinkedIn, GTBank described HabariPay as a young start-up on the path to building a truly pan-African payments unicorn.

“We know we can do it – with a high-impact founding team and the backing from a multinational financial services company,” the bank noted.

Interestingly, Flutterwave’s $170 million raise shoot up its valuation above $1 billion making it the second unicorn fintech company in Africa after Interswitch.

Paystack is also among the startups in the eye-sight of GTBank. The payment gateway was acquired in 2020 by global payment company Stripe in a deal valued at $200 million.

GTBank, Sterling Bank, and Access Bank have all applied for a holding company structure licence and they are expected to take-off at least by the second quarter of 2021.

When approved, the three banks will be joining the likes of UBA, First Bank, and Stanbic IBTC which already operate holding company structures. The difference will be in the individual objectives of the institutions.

Segun Agbaje, CEO of GTBank has never made a secret of the bank’s ambitions for the payment services in Nigeria. Hence, the licence is expected to unlock the tap for big investments in payment services.

For Agbaje there is no limit to how far GTBank is willing to go to secure a prime share of the payment market in Nigeria and Africa. This is likely to include acquiring the top-of-the-class technology equipment to ensure that HabariPay hits the ground running from day 1.

“You will have access to best-in-class engineering tools and resources to enable you to solve truly complex problems and develop game-changing payments solutions for the African market. We prioritise agility, we fail fast, we invest faster and we drive value for customers,” GTBank noted in the vacancy position for Product Owner.

Some experts however say the bank’s ambitions and willingness to deploy enormous resources may not necessarily see it through to unicorn status nor controlling the major share in the payment market in Africa.

One major barrier is Agbaje saying Habari will go it alone which could test GTBank’s ability to deploy quickly and meet high customer expectations doing so. Traditional banks do not have the best record for moving quickly and getting things done as fast customers demand them.

GTBank does not have an impressive record in managing customer expectations. Its bank branches across the country still overflow with customers who often leave with different experiences. But the bank has had a long experience in growing electronic payments.

Flutterwave

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Flutterwave

Flutterwave Closes USD $170m Funding

by with No Comment financeNews

Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, today announces it has secured USD $170 million from a leading group of international investors as part of a successful Series C round.

READ ALSO: SunFunder closes US$70m solar energy fund

The round was led by growth-equity firms Avenir Growth Capital (“Avenir”) and Tiger Global Management LLC (“Tiger Global”) with participation from new and existing investors.

Founded by entrepreneur Olugbenga Agboola in 2016, the company’s valuation is considered to be valued at more than USD $1 billion.

The fundraise brings the total investment in Flutterwave to USD $225 million and is one of only a very small number of African fintech companies to have raised significant funds in a period of widespread disruption and economic uncertainty.

The new funds will allow Flutterwave to execute an ambitious growth strategy to become a leading global payments company, empowering SMEs and multinational brands by connecting the highly fragmented African digital payments landscape. Flutterwave will invest the new capital to accelerate customer acquisition in existing and international markets, as well as develop complementary and innovative products such as the newly launched Flutterwave Mobile, an app to help accelerate ecommerce growth as a result of the success of the Flutterwave Stores.

This fundraise comes at a time when Covid-19 has accelerated the shift to digital payments in Africa, which has contributed to Flutterwave’s exceptional revenue growth of 226% CAGR from 2018-2020.

Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, said: “When Flutterwave was founded in 2016, the payments landscape in Africa was highly fragmented so the goal was to build a pan-African platform that simplified payments for everyone. However our successes would not be possible without (1) Our amazing team of 300+ employees that work tirelessly to achieve our goals (2) The trust and support we have received from our investors and customers and (3) Regulatory bodies like the Central Bank of Nigeria which – under the leadership of the current Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele – has remained at the forefront of the significant efforts that are currently being made by African governments to create the enabling environment for technology, innovation and financial inclusion. This humbling support has created the backbone upon which companies like Flutterwave have been able to thrive.”

As we look to the future, our focus remains the same which is to stand by our 290,000 merchants across Africa every day as they strive to build their mom-and-pop stores into global businesses. We look forward to increasing our investments across the continent and deepening the impact our platform has on lives and livelihoods as we take more businesses in Africa to the World, and at the same time continue to bring more of the World to Africa.”

Jamie Reynolds, Partner at Avenir Growth Capital, commented: “Flutterwave is at the forefront of innovation in payments technology, and we are excited to support the team as they build the last available payments infrastructure frontier in the world – connecting merchants and consumers intra-Africa and globally.”

Scott Shleifer, Partner at Tiger Global Management LLC, added: “We are excited to partner with Flutterwave as they continue building a world-class payments platform. We were impressed by Flutterwave’s focus on customer success and believe the company is well-positioned for sustainable long-term growth.”

This latest funding round was led by Avenir and Tiger Global with participation from DST Global, Early Capital Berrywood, Green Visor Capital, Greycroft Capital, Insight Ventures, PayPal, Salesforce Ventures, Tiger Management, WorldpayFIS, and 9yards Capital. Avenir and Tiger Global have funded some of the brightest tech start-ups in the world including Current, Latch, Savage x Fenty, JD.com and Facebook.

Flutterwave was founded with the mission to create endless possibilities for customers and businesses in Africa and the emerging markets. It enables its customers to build customisable payment applications through its APIs. Flutterwave’s Series C fundraise comes on the back of an impressive run of 4 years in which Flutterwave reached over 290,000 merchants and over 500,000 registered Barter users, launched a range of new products and partnerships and expanded its infrastructure into over 33 countries.

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Solar Energy

SunFunder closes US$70m solar energy fund

by with No Comment FeaturedNews

AFRICA – Investment company SunFunder, a company specializing in solar energy, has completed the financial mobilisation for its Solar Energy Transformation (SET) fund worth US$70 million.

READ ALSO: How SMEs can scale up under the AfCFTA

The multi-investor fund has been closed thanks to an investment by Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB).

The SET Fund was launched by SunFunder with the aim of accelerating the electrification process in Africa and this financing mechanism has attracted many other investors like Swedfund which injected US$12 million in September 2020.

The fund has also received investment from American Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Calvert Impact Capital, Ceniarth, the IKEA Bank of America Foundation, Mercy Investment Services, Schmidt Family Foundation, as well as several individual investors through the Toniic Impact network.

“Off-grid solutions have played a key role in providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy, especially to rural populations. We are therefore proud to team up with SunFunder and to support this innovative fund that improves access to energy for millions of people”

“Off-grid solutions have played a key role in providing clean, affordable, and reliable energy, especially to rural populations. We are therefore proud to team up with SunFunder – an experienced and impact-conscious partner in this field and to support this innovative fund that improves access to energy for millions of people,” said Sabine Gaber, member of the OeEB Board of Directors.

In Africa, SunFunder particularly supports suppliers of off-grid solar systems, which accelerate the electrification of rural areas and provide clean energy to businesses.

In Nigeria, for example, SunFunder has invested US$4 million in Daystar Power to provide solar energy to industrial and commercial customers.

The investment company has also been involved in several fundraising initiatives, including those of solar-powered irrigation system supplier SunFunder and solar home systems supplier PEG Africa.

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