Solar Company PEG Africa Raises $25m In Series C Funding

West African pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar company PEG Africa has raised a US$25 million Series C funding round to take its total secured investment to US$50 million.

PEG Africa provides credit for assets such as solar home systems to underserved households in West Africa via a PAYG financing model, which enables customers to replace poor quality, polluting fuels such as kerosene with solar energy.

The company has completed a US$25 million Series C round from existing and new investors to take its total raised to date to US$50 million. The investment, which was secured towards the end of last year, follows a US$13.5 million round in 2017 and two other rounds in 2016.

The funds will be used to cement PEG’s position as a market leader in West Africa, where it already has operations in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Senegal. It serves over 60,000 households, with more than 300,000 beneficiaries, through 70 service centres, and has over 400 full time staff and 550 commission-based sales agents.

A total of US$20 million of the round is in debt, with CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution, arranging a US$15 million multi-currency facility, joined by existing lenders SunFunder and ResponsAbility.

The remaining US$5 million comes in the form of equity investments from existing investors Energy Access Ventures, Blue Haven Initiative, Investisseur & Partenaires, and Acumen Fund, and new investors Total Energy Ventures and the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP).

More than 150 million people live with no access to electricity in West Africa and spend up to 30 per cent of their incomes on poor quality, polluting and sometimes dangerous fuels like kerosene, candles and batteries. Acknowledging this growth potential, Ademidun Edosomwan, Senior Investment Manager at Total Energy Ventures said ‘We have been following PEG for a while, and PEG’s leadership in West Africa, where Total also has a large footprint, made it a logical investment’.