Millions of people across Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to gain access to clean energy after solar company d.light secured a $50 million Green Bond that takes the off-grid solar sector into public capital markets for the first time.
The bond, issued by African Frontier Capital (AFC), has pushed d.light’s Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGo) receivables securitization platform to $1 billion in cumulative purchasing capacity. The company says the financing will help expand affordable energy access to around 4.3 million people and support more than 20 million new first-time electricity connections by 2030.
The bond will be listed on the London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market and is backed by a full guarantee from the Green Guarantee Company (GGC), helping reduce financing costs and making it easier for d.light to offer affordable payment plans to customers who often struggle to access traditional credit.
Opening New Sources of Capital for Energy Access
For years, the off-grid solar industry in Africa has relied heavily on development finance institutions and impact investors. The new bond changes that by creating a pathway for institutional investors to fund energy access projects.
“This is a major step not just for d.light, but for the entire off-grid solar sector,” said Nedjip Tozun, Co-founder and CEO of d.light. He said the transaction proves that African energy access receivables can attract large-scale institutional investment when they are structured with the right transparency and financial safeguards.
The bond has been rated BBB by Fitch and attracted investors from the United Kingdom and the United States, including Legal & General, Calvert Impact Capital and Ceniarth. Standard Chartered Bank acted as the placement and settlement agent while Sustainable Fitch provided an independent assessment of the sustainable finance framework.
The financing model is also expected to create more than 50,000 jobs and position d.light among a small group of companies that can contribute significantly to the World Bank’s Mission 300 initiative, which aims to provide electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030.
Building on a Series of Industry Firsts
The latest transaction is the result of several milestones achieved by d.light over the past six years. In 2020, the company pioneered the first securitization of PAYGo solar receivables in the off-grid solar sector. In 2023, one of its financing structures became the first in the sector to receive an investment-grade private credit rating.
In 2024, d.light fully repaid its $110 million senior debt facility ahead of schedule and later launched a multi-currency financing platform that supports local currency lending across several African markets.
According to Tozun, bringing the platform into public bond markets demonstrates that energy access financing in Africa can attract global investors at scale.
Founded in 2007, d.light has sold more than 40 million products, including solar lanterns, home systems, televisions and smartphones, reaching over 210 million people worldwide. The company says its long-term vision is to improve the lives of one billion people through affordable and sustainable products.
