Sun King, the Kenyan pay-as-you-go off-grid solar energy firm, has closed a landmark $156 million (KES 20.1 billion) securitisation to scale affordable solar across Kenya.
The firm says the funds will enable it to serve an estimated 1.4 million low-income households and businesses to get off kerosene and diesel to access electricity for the first time.
According to Anish Thakkar, Co-Founder of Sun King, “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. 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.”
This is Sun King’s second after closing a $130 million securitisation completed in 2023. The deal is the largest securitisation ever completed in Sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa.
The facility was 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
By allowing households to access solar products by paying as little as $0.19 (KES 25) per day through mobile money, 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.
The transaction includes asenior 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 amezzanine tranche provided by development finance institutions: British International Investment, the Dutch development bank FMO, and Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries.
To date, an estimated 30% of Kenyan homes have access to Sun King solar. 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.
“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,” said Jorge Rubio Nava, Citi’s Global Head of Social Finance.
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.
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https://techmoran.com/2025/07/28/sun-king-closes-156-million-to-deliver-solar-for-over-a-million-kenyans/
