Sun King and Citi in $130 million securitisation deal in Kenya

Approximately three out of every ten Kenyans live without access to electricity. Although, solar energy offers clean and reliable energy as well as long-term cost savings for homes and businesses in Kenya, the upfront equipment cost blocks many Kenyan consumers from transitioning to solar energy.

That's why Sun King, a leading solar energy solutions provider in Africa and Asia, has announced a partnership with Citi to pioneer a unique bank-led securitisation deal denominated entirely in Kenyan Shillings. The goal? To broaden access to finance for off-grid solar in Kenya.

The initiative, valued at $130 million, aims to leverage payments from Sun King's existing and future Kenyan customers to raise funds for further growth and expansion in the off-grid solar energy sector.

The securitisation structure enables investors to finance the expected future payments from over a million Sun King customers, providing access to a previously underserved market and offering risk-diversified returns.

Sun King specializes in designing, distributing, installing, and financing solar energy solutions for households and businesses in Africa and Asia. Through their "Easy Buy" model, customers can purchase solar products and make affordable instalment payments as low as $0.15 per day using mobile money or cash.

Citi acted as the lead placement agent, structuring the scalable loan instrument with support from Standard Bank Group as the co-placement agent. The securitisation deal, issued under Sun King's Sustainable Financing Framework, aims to expedite the adoption of clean and reliable energy solutions in Kenya, where approximately 30% of the population lacks access to electricity.