PEG Africa

PEG Africa is a leader in deploying and financing solar products to rural and peri-urban households and SMEs in West Africa.

The company focuses on providing embedded finance for useful and productive assets, such as solar home systems (SHS), via its pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financing model. It commercially launched its first products in Ghana in 2015, and has since expanded into Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal.

In 2018, REPP participated in the company’s USD 5m series C equity raise with an equity investment of USD 1.1m. The equity raise led to debt funding the following year from CDC (the UK’s DFI) and ElectriFI of USD 15m and USD 5m, respectively. This funding round powered the company’s expansion into Senegal and Mali.

As of 31 March 2022, more than 1 million people had been connected to electricity through its products, many of whom did not have access to electricity before. Nearly 600,000 of these people were connected following REPP’s investments in the company.

In 2021, PEG Africa started selling productive use equipment such as solar-powered water pumps. REPP provided further support to the company in the course of the year with two investments: a convertible loan of USD 2m and COVID-support of USD 600,000.

SHS kits offer a raft of raft of economic, environmental and health benefits for the region’s rural communities, where off-grid households are currently spending USD 14 – USD 20 per month on kerosene, candles, batteries and phone charging.

The typical solar system that PEG provides includes a solar panel, control box, phone charging kit, five LED light bulbs with cables and switches, an LED rechargeable torch, a rechargeable radio and a 19” television.  Bigger systems include fans, more lights and larger televisions, and PEG is also starting to leverage its credit knowledge to offer solar water pumps and solar gensets to underserved smallholder farmers.

Through the asset-based financing scheme, PEG’s customers – who lack formal banking services – make small incremental repayments via their mobile phones to acquire, use and finally own the solar system. If customers default on the loan, the assets are automatically switched off remotely until the customer starts paying again.

Sales agents are paid a portion of their total commission upfront, and the remainder over the next six months of the loan term, dependent on customer repayment status. If customers default the commission is clawed back, which incentivises agents to find trustable and credit-worthy customers, as well as to deliver ongoing product support.