MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: M-Kopa Raises $250m to Expand Financing of Mobile Phones, Solar Equipment in Africa

M-Kopa, a Kenya-based company serving 3 million customers in four African countries, recently announced that it has raised approximately USD 250 million in fresh funds to expand its facilitation of financial and digital inclusion. In particular, the firm finances devices that it sells, such as mobile phones and solar equipment. M-Kopa also offers cash loans and medical coverage.

This new financing includes USD 55 million in equity, mostly from Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation. The other equity investors are the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation; development finance institutions of the British and Dutch governments; and funds associated with Kenya’s Mirova Sun Funder, UK-based Lion’s Head and US-based Nithio. About USD 100 million of the debt funding is from South Africa’s Standard Bank.

“There’s a huge demand for life-enhancing products like smartphones and solar home systems, which are difficult to afford, but we’ve made them affordable and accessible to our customers,” said Jesse Moore, Co-founder and CEO of M-Kopa. Regarding the firm’s plans to begin offering electric motorbikes in Kenya, Mr Moore added, “We’re very excited about electric mobility, and we’re sure that… there will be a big switch in ownership where electric motorbikes will scale when there’s financing to go with them.”

Among M-Kopa’s goals are to double its client base to 6 million while increasing the percentage of women it serves from 40 percent to 60 percent.

M-Kopa is active in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, and it is in the process of expanding to South Africa. It has 2,000 employees and 10,000 agents, half of whom are women. The firm reportedly has a default rate of approximately 11 percent and has disbursed USD 1 billion in credit – including to fund 1 million solar home systems – since its inception in 2011.

By Anaya Jhaveri, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

TechCrunch article
https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/15/m-kopa-snaps-up-250m-debt-equity-for-its-asset-financing-platform/

Pymnts article

https://www.pymnts.com/news/investment-tracker/2023/m-kopa-raises-250-million-dollars-improve-financial-inclusion-africa/

M-Kopa homepage
https://www.m-kopa.com

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