KENYA – d.light, a clean energy producer through solar power, has been lauded for connecting 600 rural community health centres with solar power ensuring power is sustainably produced in the most marginalised care centres on the continent.
d.light is a global leader and pioneer in delivering affordable solar-powered solutions designed for the two billion people in the developing world without access to reliable energy.
The company has provided, and distributed solar energy solutions for households and small businesses that are transforming the way people all over the world use and pay for energy.
In the recent past, d.light has dedicated itself to providing the most reliable, affordable and accessible solar lighting and power systems for the healthcare centres in marginalised communities in the developing world and has thus far impacted more than 100 million.
Beyond providing light in rural community health clinics across Africa, it is helping tackle the electricity barrier that previously meant mothers would have to give birth in darkness.
Lack of electricity is a major issue in healthcare facilities in low and lower-middle-income countries.
World Health Organisation in a 2023 report estimates that nearly 1 billion people in the developing world have attended healthcare facilities with either unreliable electricity or none at all.
“Electricity access in healthcare facilities can make the difference between life and death,” said Dr Maria Neira, Assistant Director-General a.i, for Healthier Populations at WHO.
Dr Neira insisted that investing in reliable, clean and sustainable energy for healthcare facilities was not only crucial to pandemic preparedness, it’s also much needed to achieve universal health coverage, as well as increase climate resilience and adaptation.
In the 17 years since it was launched, the company has made a foray into more than 157 million homes in 70 countries as well as created close to 2,000 jobs and averted 1.3 million tons of CO2 and black carbon emissions with solar replacing kerosene lamps
For the survival of our African mothers and neonates
d.light has initiated more ‘off-grid’ health clinics by installing solar-powered lights and alternate power supplies It ensures that the clinic’s capabilities to provide treatment at night more so the maternal and neonatal care sections of the centres.
d.light notes that the lack of electricity contributes to higher rates of maternal death in Africa compared to countries in Europe.
The installations by d.light, which has now reached over 600 clinics, will provide reliable artificial light along with off-grid energy systems, and allow buildings to extend their operating hours.
This means that more women in rural communities who enter labour during the night can use an operational clinic to give birth.
Co-founder Ned Tozun noted that for rural health clinics in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world, access to artificial light could mean the difference between receiving vital care and treatment or not.
“With d.light’s solar-powered products, expectant mothers no longer have to give birth in darkness. Clinic staff can also admit and care for other patients at night more easily when there’s a safe source of light available,” said Tozun.
Securing capital to expand its reach in Africa
The company announced at the beginning of August that it has released US$125M to scale up its solar-powered products across low-income households in Tanzania.
To this end, it also secured a US$30 million securitization facility from the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group).
d.light will use the capital to increase its existing securitized financing facility in Tanzania and scale up its low-cost Pay-Go personal finance service in the country so that more low-income people and households can purchase the company’s affordable, solar-powered household products.
d.light CEO, Nick Imudia said, “This new financing from TDB gives us the extra funding to reach more low-income families and households in Tanzania via our Pay-Go business, in a way that is affordable for our customers and sustainable for our business.”
He noted that d.light and its lending partners were long-time pioneers in developing securitized finance as an innovative, scalable financing model for raising equity for off-grid solar that is guaranteed against current and future customer sales.
“We’ve successfully used the securitization model for several years in Kenya and now we and our partners are expanding it to Tanzania,” said Imudia.
The social impact securitizations will continue to help d.light to bring financial inclusion and access to reliable and clean energy to millions of people while simultaneously helping to ensure a just and equitable energy transition that benefits everyone.
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