Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative investor, recently loaned EUR 5 million (USD 5.68 million) to Ecoligo, a German firm that provides solar-as-a-service solutions, to expand its operations in Ghana and Kenya. The loan is to finance solar energy equipment that will provide power to 15 clients, which will pay Ecoligo for the power on a monthly basis. Siebren Wilschut, an investment officer at Oikocredit, said, “With Oikocredit’s support, Ecoligo will continue to scale up and increase its social impact to support SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] and NGOs. With significant cost savings, SMEs and NGOs will be able to secure more jobs in local communities at the same time as reducing their carbon dioxide footprint.”
Established in 2016, Ecoligo reports having prevented 987,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions through its 58 projects, which have supported 41 organizations in 11 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. Its pipeline includes another 71 projects. Ecoligo has raised EUR 19.9 million (USD 22.6 million) from 3,560 investors since its inception.
Founded in 1975, Oikocredit invests debt and equity in financial inclusion, agriculture and renewable energy in Africa, Asia and Latin America with the goal “to improve the quality of life of low-income people or communities in a sustainable way.” As of September 2021, Oikocredit has investments valued at EUR 876 million (USD 991 million) deployed via 527 partners.
By Sheen Gupta, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
Oikocredit press release
https://www.oikocredit.coop/k/en/n2613/news/view/348849/9049/oikocredit-invests-5-million-in-ecoligo-to-support-the-growth-of-commercial-and-industrial-solar-energy-in-africa.html
Ecoligo homepage
https://ecoligo.com
Oikocredit homepage
https://www.oikocredit.coop
Previous MicroCapital article on Oikocredit
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-annapurna-raises-35m-from-accion-encourage-capital-oikocredit-to-support-green-microfinance-digitalisation/
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