- d.light, a provider of household products and affordable financing for low-income households, has announced that it will provide 10,000 subsidised solar home systems to refugees in Northern and Western Uganda as part of a larger initiative to supply 23,000 solar home systems to refugee communities in Uganda.
- Per a statement shared with Techpoint Africa, this initiative is being funded by a $3 million grant from the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), a body made up of Ugandan business associations, companies, and public sector agencies, as well as the German, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swiss governments' Energising Development (EnDev) international programme.
- The company will use the grant to provide access to affordable, reliable, sustainable energy for delivering social, economic, and environmental change.
In February 2024, the company announced it had closed a $7.4 million securitised financing to expand access to its low-cost Pay-Go offering of affordable, solar-powered products for low-income households.
According to the company, the project began in April and will last 12 months. Funds from the grant are subject to results-based financing (RBF), and d.light will only receive funding for installed solar home systems.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Africa has 60% of the world's best solar resources but only 1% of solar power capacity. To meet its energy and climate goals, the IEA estimates that the continent will require $190 billion in annual investment between 2026 and 2030, with clean energy accounting for two-thirds of that total.
Douglas Gavala, the company's Managing Director for Uganda, stated that the grant will help the company expand its activities to improve the living conditions of underserved refugee communities from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other countries living in Ugandan refugee camps.
The company's products contribute to household income in Uganda's refugee settlements by extending working hours for tradespeople and small businesses and providing an income for residents who work as d.light salespeople.
