SunCulture and Mirova today announced the closing of a $10 million securitisation of receivables linked to productive-use solar irrigation systems. The transaction is designed to mobilise institutional capital for climate-smart agriculture in Africa and establish a replicable financing model for distributed productive-use energy assets.
The transaction comprises a $10 million senior secured financing provided by the Mirova Gigaton Fund to a dedicated special purpose vehicle established to acquire receivables originated by SunCulture Kenya.
SunCulture is a provider of solar-powered irrigation and productive-use energy solutions. It has built one of Africa’s most successful pay-as-you-go platforms serving smallholder farmers. Through its “pay-as-you-grow” model, the company enables farmers to access solar irrigation equipment with affordable repayment schedules while bundling insurance and warranty services.
Through the transaction, SunCulture can recycle capital initially allocated to financing longer-dated customer receivables and focus additional resources on expanding access to solar water pumps for smallholder farmers.
Founded in Kenya in 2012, SunCulture has sold over 85,000 solar irrigation systems and pumps since inception. The company’s solutions help farmers reduce their dependence on increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns while improving agricultural productivity, strengthening climate resilience and increasing household incomes.
Samir Ibrahim, co-founder and CEO of SunCulture, said: “Access to irrigation in Kenya has never been limited by farmer demand. It has been limited by the lack of affordable, scalable solutions. Solving that comes down to financing: whether it is available, what it costs, and how long it runs. This structure addresses all three and gives us the confidence to scale customer financing on long-term, FX-protected capital. Faster recycling of capital means more farmers irrigating sooner.”
Rim Azirar, deputy head of emerging market energy transition at Mirova, commented: “This transaction breaks new ground for the productive-use energy sector in Africa. Beyond supporting SunCulture’s continued growth, we believe this transaction can provide a replicable blueprint for other companies and help unlock new sources of long-term capital for productive-use energy and climate solutions across the continent.”
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