SFC was established as a dedicated impact investment vehicle to provide working capital to PAYGO SHS distributors in order to plug the financing gap which restricts these companies from reaching their full growth potential. We seek to provide – indirectly through PAYGO SHS distributors - consumer financing to consumers of renewable off-grid solar energy, allowing them to leapfrog the grid sustainably. By doing so, we seek to enable positive social and environmental impacts.
1.2 billion people live without access to electricity.
A household spends roughly 30 – 50 cents a day on dirty and dangerous KEROSENE & other stop-gap measures.
PAYGO SHS’s allow customers to pay in affordable instalments (~ same 30 – 50 cents a day they would spend on poor kerosene alternative). SHS includes: solar panel, battery, 2-5 modern LED lights, radio, an optional TV and allows users to pay with mobile money. SHS can be turned off automatically if payments are overdue.
When payment plan is complete (usually 12 -36 months) no further payments due: Free electricity
Over 73 million households are benefiting from improved electricity access through OGS products.
PAYGO service providers currently require hundreds of millions of dollars in working capital financing. From 2017 to 2022, this
working capital gap will grow to USD 3.5 billion
USAID Scaling Off-Grid Energy (SOGE):
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In 2017, the global OGS sector is providing improved electricity access to approximately 73 million households, or over 360 million people, thereby transforming lives that were previously reliant on kerosene and solid fuels for most of their lighting needs. |
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Households have made roughly USD 10.4 billion in economic savings by switching from kerosene and/or other conventional fuels to OGS devices. |
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Well in excess of 26 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions have been avoided through the reduced use of traditional lighting sources due to OGS devices. |
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45% of OGS users who previously used kerosene reported improved health especially respiratory and eye issues as well as reductions in burns and accidents. |
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A reported 1.9 million people have used OGS to support income generating activities. |
Source: “Off-Grid Solar Market Trends Report 2018 January 2018”, Dahlberg Advisors and Lighting Global