MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: To Fund Biogas Digesters, Cookstoves in Kenya, Sumac Microfinance Bank Borrows $2m from Spark+ Africa

Kenya’s Sumac Microfinance Bank recently secured a three-year loan of USD 2 million from Spark+ Africa Fund, an investor in “modern energy solutions.” Sumac is to use the funds to expand its Kawi product, which funds solar panels, fuel-efficient stoves and biogas digesters. Sumac’s partners include Kenya’s Burn Manufacturing and Mexico-based Sistema.bio, whose products allow families to save money on fuel costs, reduce their impact on forests and improve air quality in their homes.

Spark+, which has a target volume of USD 70 million, was launched in March 2022 by the US-based Clean Cooking Alliance, Switzerland-based investor Enabling Qapital and the Netherlands-based Stichting Modern Cooking to assist companies in sub-Saharan Africa that “offer life-improving biomass, biogas, ethanol, electric, and LPG-based cooking technologies to low-income consumers.”

Enabling Qapital Investment Officer Mary Mukuria said, “Whilst clean cooking energy and solutions have unquestionable benefits to households, the upfront or transition costs are not affordable to many. In this respect, financial intermediaries fill a significant gap in the ecosystem by providing consumer financing in the ‘last mile’.”

Founded in 2004, Sumac reaches 14,000 customers and holds a loan portfolio of USD 13 million via five branches. The microbank’s services include deposits and insurance, although data on the scale of those services have not been released.

Sources and Additional Resources

Spark+ press release
https://www.sparkafricafund.com/_files/ugd/551d1b_70222ecd502e40b0af0ffe4b0c69ad5a.pdf

Sumac homepage
https://sumacmicrofinancebank.co.ke

Spark+ homepage
https://www.sparkafricafund.com

More content from MicroCapital on Spark+
/?s=spark

More content from MicroCapital on Kenya
/?s=kenya

Did you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at /products-page/.