Quick Read:
- Sun King closes a $156 million (KES equivalent) securitisation, the largest and first majority commercial-bank-backed deal of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa.
- Backed by private capital from Absa Bank Kenya, Citi, The Co-operative Bank of Kenya, KCB Bank, and Stanbic Bank Kenya.
- The new deal is expected to finance approximately 1.4 million solar products and smartphones in Kenya.
Sun King, the world’s largest off-grid solar energy company, has closed a landmark $156 million (KES 20.1 billion) securitisation to scale affordable solar across Kenya.
The local currency deal will enable an estimated 1.4 million low-income households and businesses to access electricity, often for the first time, and shift away from costly, polluting fuels like kerosene and diesel.
This is Sun King’s second and largest Kenyan-Shilling-denominated securitisation. The deal is the largest securitisation ever completed in Sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa.
Arranged and structured by Citi with Stanbic Bank Kenya Ltd (part of the Standard Bank Group) acting as the placement agent, the securitisation is backed by five international and local commercial banks and three development finance institutions. It builds on the company’s award-winning $130 million securitisation completed in 2023.
Sun King’s pay-as-you-go solar model allows households to access solar products by making small, flexible payments starting from as little as $0.19 (KES 25) per day through mobile money.
To date, Sun King has extended $1.3 billion in solar loans to almost 10 million individual customers across Africa.
The securitisation enables Sun King to raise long-term local currency debt by converting future customer repayments for financed solar products into investable assets.
“Millions of off-grid households have switched to solar thanks to small ‘pay-as-you-go’ loans. 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. Return-seeking, local capital in local currency is essential to unlocking the scale and speed needed to achieve universal energy access.”
The transaction includes:
- A senior tranche funded by five commercial banks: Absa Bank Kenya Ltd, Citi, The Co-operative Bank of Kenya, KCB Bank Kenya Limited, and Stanbic Bank Kenya Ltd; and
- A mezzanine tranche provided by development finance institutions: British International Investment, the Dutch development bank FMO, and Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries.
Both senior and mezzanine tranches have been privately rated by a credit ratings agency. The funds are raised under Sun King’s Sustainable Financing Framework, which received a Second Party Opinion (SPO) from Moody’s Investor Relations, earning a Very Good (SQS2) score. The securitisation is a private offer in line with Kenya’s capital market regulations.
To date, an estimated 30% of Kenyan homes have access to Sun King solar. With this new funding, solar access is expected to grow significantly.
The new securitisation is expected to deliver loans that enable the purchase of approximately 1.4 million solar products and smartphones in Kenya.
Together with Sun King’s 2023 securitisation, the two transactions will help deliver an estimated 3.7 million solar products and smartphones.
This second securitisation is part of Sun King’s broader effort to raise local currency capital across Africa. So far, Sun King has raised $450 million across Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
The securitisation shows how appropriate financial tools can mobilise local private capital to solve local challenges, such as energy access and the just transition.
“This securitisation demonstrates the effectiveness of pay-as-you-go business models to reach underserved communities at scale and the role of development finance institutions to mobilise private capital,” said Jorge Rubio Nava, Citi’s global head of Social Finance. “Over the last few years, we’ve successfully partnered with Sun King to develop innovative financial tools that bring sustainable and affordable energy solutions to millions of households across Kenya and beyond.”
The IEA reports that Kenya is one of the few Sub-Saharan African countries on track for near-universal electricity access by 2030, with standalone, distributed rooftop solar playing a central role.
The transaction supports the goals of Mission 300, the World Bank- and African Development Bank-led initiative to connect 300 million people in Africa to electricity by 2030, which recognises that mobilising local capital is critical to achieving that target.
This securitisation is a key example of how return-seeking local finance can help scale clean energy access sustainably.
