Zurich 4 May 2022 — responsAbility Investments AG, the Swiss sustainable asset manager focusing exclusively on impact investing, will provide a USD 8 million working capital facility to ARE Member Bboxx, a next-generation utility provider expanding access to clean energy and other services across Africa. The proceeds of the innovative transaction will allow next generation utility provider Bboxx to stabilise and expand its manufacturing facilities in Asia. The funding comes at a time marked by disruption in global supply chains and will take place through a Climate finance fund managed by responsAbility.

responsAbility Investments AG, a leader in impact investing focused on private debt and private equity across emerging markets, has closed an USD 8 Million working capital facility to Bboxx. responsAbility’s financing will allow Bboxx to stabilise and expand its manufacturing facilities in Asia, supporting the company’s continued efforts to manufacture and supply innovative products to bolster access to utilities in communities across Africa. The funding comes at a time marked by disruption in global supply chains. The transaction will take place through a Climate finance fund managed by responsAbility.

Next-generation utility provider Bboxx is an industry leader and a global pioneer of Pay-As-You Go (PAYG) solar home systems. They also provide a range of clean cooking, mobile technology and accessible financial solutions, all managed through their Bboxx Pulse® platform, a comprehensive management platform using IoT technology and enabling clean energy access to be scaled to places previously considered too expensive or difficult to reach via traditional grid infrastructure. Bboxx currently operates across Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, Kenya, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. Bboxx is positively impacting the lives of more than 2.5 million people with its products and services and has over 1,000 employees across the world.

responsAbility’s climate finance funds support renewable energy, energy efficiency projects and companies to promote access to reliable, clean, and affordable energy in developing and emerging countries while catalysing sustainable development and contributing to the UN SDGs.

Welcoming the funding, Mansoor Hamayun, CEO and Co-Founder of Bboxx, said: “We founded Bboxx 12 years ago to transform lives by providing utilities to historically under-serviced communities. With the climate crisis gathering pace, this mission is more vital than ever. This latest funding will help us continue to deliver more affordable and accessible clean energy solutions to some of the most vulnerable.”

Antoine Prédour, Head of Climate Finance and member of Senior Management at responsAbility Investments: “We are excited to announce the closing of a tailor-made working capital facility with Bboxx, for its manufacturing operations in Asia, facilitating the company's continued efforts to provide an increasing access to energy for customers across Africa.”

 

https://www.responsability.com/en/press-releases/next-generation-utility-provider-bboxx-raises-usd-8-million-from-responsability-for-supply-chain-financing-in-asia