The transaction marks Sun King’s second and largest securitisation in Kenyan Shillings and stands as the most significant of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa.

The funds will support the company’s efforts to provide electricity to approximately 1.4 million homes and small businesses that currently lack reliable power, helping them move away from expensive and polluting energy sources like kerosene and diesel.

Citi structured and arranged the deal, while Stanbic Bank Kenya Ltd acted as the placement agent.

The financing package includes contributions from five commercial banks—Absa Bank Kenya, Citi, The Co-operative Bank of Kenya, KCB Bank, and Stanbic Bank Kenya—as well as three development finance institutions: British International Investment, FMO, and Norfund.

Sun King operates a pay-as-you-go model that allows users to acquire solar systems by making daily payments as low as KES 25 ($0.19) through mobile money platforms. So far, the company has disbursed $1.3 billion in solar loans to nearly 10 million customers across Africa.

The new funds will enable Sun King to convert future customer payments for these solar systems into investment-grade assets, allowing for sustainable, long-term financing in local currency.

Sun King’s co-founder Anish Thakkar described the deal as a major development for renewable energy finance on the continent.

“This agreement reflects growing confidence among African banks in the viability of pay-as-you-go solar models. Local capital, committed to long-term goals, is key to expanding energy access at scale,” he said.

The securitisation consists of two tranches: a senior tranche funded by the five commercial banks and a mezzanine tranche supported by the development finance institutions. Both tranches were privately rated by a credit rating agency.

The transaction was executed under Sun King’s Sustainable Financing Framework, which received a Second Party Opinion from Moody’s Investor Relations with a “Very Good” (SQS2) rating. It complies with Kenya’s private placement regulations.

Citi’s Global Head of Social Finance, Jorge Rubio Nava, emphasized the impact of such financial models.

“This transaction highlights how pay-as-you-go systems can reach underserved communities and how development finance can unlock private capital for scalable solutions,” he noted.

Sun King aims to use the funds to expand its clean energy offerings and help more Kenyan households transition to reliable and environmentally friendly power sources.