The consortium of financing partners includes: VentureBuilder, which led the round, a grant from United States African Development Foundation (USADF) and a debt facility from Cordaid Investment Management (Cordaid). Energy+, which was founded in May 2017, will channel the funds towards scaling its off-grid business across Mali, by expanding its “pay-as-you-go” and cash sales offering available through its retail network. The funding will go a long way in ensuring Energy+ is able to expand its services into remote and underserved regions of Mali. Energy+ CEO, Simballa Sylla explains, “In countries such as ours, pay-as-you-go is the best way to bring quality solar home systems to off-grid areas because it makes energy access easy and affordable. With the help of VentureBuilder, Cordaid, and USADF, we will be in a position to transition, in a strategic manner, from a producer of small electrical batteries to a large scale distributor of high-quality solar products.” Managing Director of Cordaid, Hann Verheijen, pointed out that the funding will see Energy+ create several job opportunities for locals. Verheijen said, “Energy+ is an exciting addition to our growing Malian SME portfolio. Energy+ will create jobs and bring clean energy where it is most needed, and the experienced promoters have shown that they can deliver despite a very challenging market. We look forward to a long-term partnership with Energy+ to finance their continuing growth, and in doing so meet our social impact ambitions in Mali and the region.” President and CEO of USADF, C.D. Glin, added, “We are proud to support Energy+ alongside VentureBuilder and Cordaid. Our investment in Energy+ is aligned with USADF’s mandate to support African off-grid energy enterprises to help them grow, overcome the many hurdles they may face as entrepreneurs, and reach underserved communities in Africa.” Since its founding in 2017 Energy+ has focused on providing affordable and reliable energy to households; it officially began operations in 2019. Energy+ claims to have sold thousands of d.light off-grid solar products in Mali through its easy-to-use pay-as-you-go and cash system. The company will also channel some of these funds towards digitising the service catering directly to Energy+ customers. Energy+ is providing a much needed service, in a country that reportedly has 60% of its 20 million strong population living without access to in-home electricity.
