KENYA – Social impact investor Oikocredit is providing a loan of €5 million (US$5.6 million) to ecoligo, a provider of “solar-as-a-service” solutions for commercial and industrial businesses in emerging markets.
The funds will enable ecoligo to provide clean energy to around 15 companies and organizations in Ghana and Kenya, with additional benefits of companies achieving significant cost savings.
With this Oikocredit’s investment, ecoligo will be able to expand and offer its solar-as-a-service solutions to more small and medium enterprises (SMEs) over the next 10 years.
“We’re delighted to support ecoligo, a rising star in the commercial and industrial sector, in their expansion to ensure access to clean energy. With Oikocredit’s support, ecoligo will continue to scale up and increase its social impact to support SMEs and NGOs. With significant cost savings, SMEs and NGOs will be able to secure more jobs in local communities at the same time as reducing their CO2 footprint,” said Siebren Wilschut, Investment Officer at Oikocredit.
Since 2016, Ecoligo has installed and commissioned 58 projects to date totaling about 19.2 MW (megawatts), spanning 41 businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
This helped the businesses and organizations reduce their CO2 emissions while also making significant cost savings.
The company also signed a further 71 installation agreements with a capacity of 41.7 MW for development.
Markus Schwaninger, Chief Finance Officer at ecoligo, said: “It is a great pleasure to work with such an esteemed and renowned partner as Oikocredit who shares our mission. Thanks to their support, we have been able to scale up our operations in sub-Saharan Africa and to bring more solar projects to life than ever before, allowing us to create meaningful change. We are looking forward to creating more social impact together with Oikocredit.”
The fully financed Solar-as-a-Service projects not only bring ecoligo’s customers financial savings but also enable them to grow sustainably and by supplying commercial and industrial companies in the fastest growing economies in the world with solar energy, ecoligo makes a measurable contribution to saving harmful CO2 and thus actively protects the climate. The projects signed so far can save 979,700 tons of CO2.
ecoligo is headquartered in Berlin and has additional locations in Accra (Ghana), Nairobi (Kenya), San José (Costa Rica), Santiago de Chile (Chile) and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).
Liked this article? Subscribe to DealStreet Africa News, our regular email newsletter with the latest news, deals, and insights from Africa’s business, economy, and more. SUBSCRIBE HERe