SolarX - Afrikan Heroes

SolarX Secures $8M Credit To Supply Solar Power To Its Customers

January 11, 2023

SolarX has good news. The Port-Louis, Mauritius-based company has just received a loan of 7.5 million euros ($8 Million) from the Facility for Energy Inclusion (EIF), a facility of the African Development Bank (AfDB) under Lion’s Head Global Partners’ supervision. The portfolio expansion of SolarX is expected to be supported by this credit. Commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in West Africa can purchase solar energy from the company.

A SolarX operates a system that helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to lower their environmental footprint while providing an alternative to load shedding and the usage of diesel generators. The corporation operates in Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Ivory Coast.

“By constructing and financing solar energy assets, SolarX enables B2B (business to business) customers to access a more cost-effective and stable source of energy,” stated Lion’s Head, FEI manager.

The €7.5 million loan is in addition to other financing acquired by Solarx in recent months. Karim Ghammache’s company received 5.5 million euros in finance from the Dutch Development Finance Company (FMO) and the Building Propect Fund in October 2022.

This Dutch agency makes (private) investments in infrastructure, the environment, and the agrifood value chain in developing nations. SolarX will receive this additional capital in the form of convertible notes and Series B redeemable preferred shares. Energy Access Ventures (EAV), a seed fund that actively invests in renewable energy in Africa, is another client of the business.

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard

Mali’s Solar Energy Startup SolarX Secures Series A Funding From Energy Access Ventures

July 10, 2020

Good news for SolarX. The solar energy startup based in Bamako, Mali, has just completed a Series A financing. The deal was led by Energy Access Ventures (EAV), a seed investment fund that invests heavily in renewable energy in Africa.

*Karim Ghammache, founder and CEO of SolarX.*

“Because power generation in our target market comes from expensive, hard-to-get and volatile fossil fuels, most companies are looking for cheaper, more reliable and cleaner energy. Despite market demand, it was difficult to attract financial partners before engaging with EAV,” explains Karim Ghammache, founder and CEO of SolarX.

Here Is What You Need To Know

No details have been provided on the funds raised in this financing round.
However, the investment is expected to enable SolarX to expand its services in West Africa with the planned development of the solar market in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire. In these countries, SolarX will finance and install solar photovoltaic systems mainly for businesses.

Why The Investor Invested

The Energy Access Ventures (EAV) investment fund is sponsored by the French group Schneider Electric and managed by the venture capital firm Aster Capital based in Paris, France. EAV is funded by a number of development partners including the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Investment and Support Fund for Enterprise in Africa (Fisea) owned by the French Development Agency (AFD) and managed by Proparco, the French Global Environment Facility (FGEF), administered by AFD, and the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC Group), the UK government’s development finance agency.

Energy Access Ventures (EAV) excels in financing off-grid suppliers in Africa, notably Nuru which recently commissioned a 1.3 MWp solar system in the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Diversification in the solar sector

In concrete terms, the company supplies grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems that enable its customers to save on their electricity bills. The Bamako-based company also provides solar pumping systems that are very useful for drinking water supply (DWS) in rural areas.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.