Solar electricity for 15,000 Tanzanian households and businesses

Innovative debt-financing structure developed with off-grid-energy provider

Zurich, 25 September 2017 — Two responsAbility-mangaged energy funds and Mobisol, a leading player in decentralized solar electrification, have signed an off-balance-sheet debt deal. This cooperation will fuel the continued growth of Mobisol in Tanzania and provide financing for electrifying more than 15,000 households and small businesses. The deal is one of the largest special purpose vehicle debt transaction structures in the off-grid solar sector. 

The innovative new financing structure for debt financing involves local special purpose vehicles (SPVs) that ring-fence receivables from specific Mobisol customers exclusively for the responsAbility-managed funds. The structure has been labelled MOOVE (MObisol Offgrid financing VEhicle).

Complicated intercreditor agreements that typically make on-balance sheet lending cumbersome are thereby avoided. With the new structure, Mobisol is now in a position to offer tailor-made debt financing solutions for future lenders. At the same time MOOVE is infinitely scalable, can easily be replicated in Tanzania and other countries and reduces transaction costs.

The financing mechanism is already attracting interest from further lenders and should greatly ease access to debt capital. At the aggregate level, MOOVE will be able to help structure what could become a completely new asset class in the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) universe, thereby attracting a new range of commercial and institutional investors who have been waiting for an easy and secure investment vehicle.

Hartmut Schuening, CFO Mobisol, said: “Mobisol is proud to have partnered with responsAbility in order to devise MOOVE, a ground breaking new financing structure for debt financing. We believe the mechanics will make a significant contribution to the growth of the PAYG sector as a whole”.

Stefan Issler, Head of Energy Debt Financing – Direct Investments at responsAbility Investments, noted that “Through its pay-as-you-go business model, Mobisol provides underserved Tanzanian households and businesses with an affordable and reliable off-grid electricity supply – an important prerequisite for further economic growth and development in the country. We are pleased to be able to provide easy-to-access financing for the further growth of this impactful business."

Contacts

Mobisol
Lisa Schwarz, Communications Manager
Telephone: +49 30 97 00 25 55
e-mail: lisa.schwarz [at] plugintheworld.com

responsAbility Investments AG
Ulli Janett, Media Relations
Telephone: +41 44 403 06 33
e-mail: ulli.janett [at] responsAbility.com

About Mobisol
plugintheworld.com

Mobisol, a leading player in decentralized solar electrification, offers a clean and affordable alternative to fossil fuels for lower-income households and small businesses in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Combining solar energy hardware with mobile payment technology, Mobisol designs, procures, distributes and services large solar home and commercial systems. The company enables rural families and business owners to power a range of appliances, such as televisions, stereos and refrigerators to thereby improve their standard of living and earn incremental income by establishing solar-powered businesses. Mobisol provides a credible alternative to a grid connection that millions have been waiting for in vain, and ensures affordability through flexible payment plans.

About responsAbility Investments AG
responsAbility.com

responsAbility Investments AG is a leading asset manager in the field of development investments that offers professionally managed investment solutions to private, institutional and public investors. The company supplies debt and equity financing to non-listed firms in emerging economies and developing countries.

responsAbility currently has USD 3.2 billion of assets under management invested in over 550 companies in 97 countries. Founded in 2003, the company is headquartered in Zurich and has local offices in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Lima, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Nairobi, Oslo and Paris. Its shareholders include a number of reputable institutions in the Swiss financial market and its own employees. responsAbility is regulated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA.

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