Altech Group and Trine partner to bring clean energy to the DRC
Altech Group, a market leader in the distribution of world-class clean energy products in the Democratic Republic of Congo has raised €5 million in debt funding organized by Trine, a Swedish-based investment platform to finance over 3,000 solar home systems.
According to the terms of this partnership, Altech Group will receive a total of 5 million EUROs across multiple tranches to expand access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy for off-grid and poor-grid households.
Commenting on the partnership, Sam Manaberi, CEO and co-founder of Trine, explained that there is great potential for Altech’s products in the Central African country.
“We are pleased to announce Altech Group is coming on board as our partner, elevating our offering towards investors within the solar home system sector. Nearly 90% of the population of over 80 million is without access to electricity, which means there is a tremendous market potential for Altech’s products. Their innovative life-improving product solutions will bring tremendous value to our portfolio and we hope investors will find them as interesting as we do”
The first debt financing round will finance over 3,000 solar home systems in one of the most energy-poor countries in the world.
Founded in 2013 by Washikala Malango and Iongwa Mashangao, Altech Group is the DRC market leader in the distribution of world-class, pay-as-you-go clean energy products and services. The company claims it has built a near-national distribution network, sold over 220,000 products, and impacted around 1,200,000 Congolese lives.
These systems are expected to reach nearly 14,000 people with clean energy across 21 of DRC’s 26 provinces and are estimated to reduce 1,300 tons of CO2 during their lifetime. Later debt financing rounds will follow in 2021.
Trine is an investment service providing debt capital to innovative solar-focused businesses and it’s committed to long-term funding partnerships that will help scale businesses in emerging markets.
The company’s financing is designed to cover the CapEx of the solar systems with terms that are tailored to each borrower. Trine currently has over 11,000 investors across Europe and 28 borrowers operating in 16 different countries.
Washikala Malango, CEO, and co-founder of Altech Group added that the partnership with Trine is a significant milestone for Altech.
“This commitment from Trine is a significant inflection point for Altech. Since 2013, we’ve built a near-national distribution network, sold over 220,000 products, and impacted more than 1.2 million lives, all without any real access to capital. We believe that our relationship with Trine and the scale of the commitment will only lead to an even greater number of people getting access to our life-changing products.”