West Africa-based pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar company PEG Africa has continued an impressive year of fundraising to allow it to expand its operations in Senegal.
PEG Africa deploys and finances solar to households and SMEs in West Africa via its PAYG financing model, which enables customers to replace poor-quality polluting fuels such as kerosene and diesel with solar energy.
The company serves over 400,000 daily users in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal, and has recently expanded into solar water irrigation and bigger solar power systems. It has finished its first 12 months in Senegal profitable, and has now allocated US$4 million from a debt facility led by UK’s CDC Group to expand operations in Senegal.
The company has raised almost US$30 million in funding over the last year, including a US$25 million Series C round anchored by a US$15 million multi-currency facility led by CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution, and also backed by SunFunder and ResponsAbility. The same facility led by CDC Group has now provided $4M debt capital to PEG to finance its growth in Senegal.
PEG already has thousands of customers in Senegal, and the latest round of investment will be used to double down on the growth it has seen in the country.
“Senegal has been growing far quicker than expected, and has reached profitably within its first year,” said PEG Africa chief executive officer (CEO) Hugh Whalan.
“With the continued backing of CDC Group, we expect our growth in Senegal to continue. Importantly, we believe that we will be able to apply our learnings and expansion playbook to yield superior results as we grow into future markets.”
“CDC is pleased to back PEG Africa to help fuel their expansion in Senegal. We’re proud of our partnership with PEG, which is bringing the phenomenal impact of pay-as-you-go solar to new and underserved markets in West Africa with a focus on financial sustainability and innovation,” said Geoffrey Manley, Director, Head of Energy Access & Efficiency at CDC Group.
This funding announcement comes on the heels of US$5 million debt funding from ElectriFI last month. Whalan said the fact the company was increasingly raising debt as opposed to equity investment, and its ability to secure multiple facilities from well regarded lenders like CDC Group, was a testament to the increasing strength and financial sustainability of its business.
