MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Raising $17m in Green Bonds for Sun King to Finance Household Solar Technology in Africa, Asia

Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investor focused on small businesses in low- and middle- income countries, recently listed bonds on the Luxembourg Green Exchange to raise USD 17 million for Sun King, a Kenya-based firm selling solar technology in 62 countries. Sun King plans to use the proceeds to expand its provision of solar lanterns and home electrification systems to households across Africa and Asia. The bonds comply with the Green Bond Principles of the Switzerland-based International Capital Market Association.

Founded in 2007 as Greenlight Planet, Sun King designs, distributes and finances solar energy products with a focus on communities that are not connected to electricity grids. Sun King sells its products via 2,400 agents and 100 distributors – including 40 microfinance institutions. The agents offer payment plans that span seven months, with payments collected via mobile money in increments as low as USD 0.25 per day. The company has sold products to 5.5 million households, saving an estimated 400,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

Founded in 2004, Symbiotics provides for-profit investment intermediary and business services to investors in and practitioners of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise development as well as lenders to low- and middle-income households in low- and middle-income countries. As of December 2021, Symbiotics reports USD 2.9 billion in assets under management.

By Ben Greissman, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Symbiotics press release
https://symbioticsgroup.com/news/symbiotics-launched-two-green-bonds-of-usd-17-million-in-africa-with-sun-king/

Sun King homepage
https://sunking.com

Sun King description
https://sunking.com/about-sun-king/

Symbiotics homepage
https://symbioticsgroup.com

Luxembourg Green Exchange homepage
https://www.bourse.lu/green

ICMA Green Bond Principles
https://www.icmagroup.org/sustainable-finance/the-principles-guidelines-and-handbooks/green-bond-principles-gbp/

Previous MicroCapital article on Sun King
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-greenlight-planet-nets-equity-debt-totaling-60m-sun-king-solar-product-line-apis-eight-roads-bamboo-deutsche-global-partnerships-investors/

Previous MicroCapital article on Symbiotics
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-bii-investing-75m-in-msme-funders-via-symbiotics-to-enable-green-projects-in-africa-asia/

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