More than 100,000 more Kenyan households could get solar after $8m investment

An $8 million investment by two European entities is set to offer solar electricity to more than 100,000 households in northern and north eastern Kenya.

EU development finance institution (Edfi) Electrifi this week announced it had invested $4 million in shares in Canadian pay-as-you-go home solar company Solar Panda.

The EU body revealed Dutch impact investor Oikocredit had invested the same sum in the company, which has already supplied more than 200,000 off-grid solar home systems in Kenya since 2018.

Edfi Electrifi said the $8 million investment would see solar rolled out for more than 100,000 new households and would also enable Solar Panda to finance “further expansion in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Solar Panda, which is based in Toronto and also manufactures the solar home systems, said the fresh backing will ensure it eventually installs 8.4 MW of renewables generation capacity.

Quoted in a press release issued by Edfi Electrifi this week, Andy Keith, founder and CEO of Solar Panda, said: “I’m very proud of the growth and success our team has been able to achieve over the past four years and, with nearly 1 billion people in the world without access to electricity, we feel we are just getting started.”