African Sunshine Can Now Be Bought and Sold on the Bond Market
- First securitization of off-grid solar contracts into notes
- Developer aims to raise up to $2 billion in next five years
The Sishen solar park in Kathu, Northern Cape, South Africa.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Africa’s off-grid solar industry has been turned into an asset class for the first time, bundling contracts for thousands of the sun-powered rooftop electricity systems to sell as bonds.
Dutch investor Oikocredit International and Persistent Energy Capital LLC, a New York-based merchant bank, jointly decided to try to replicate the U.S. model of securitizing residential solar panels. They are working with the London-based developer BBOXX Ltd.