Daystar Power belongs to the venture builder Sunray Ventures of the German founders Christian Wessels and Jasper Graf von Hardenberg and is currently raising funds for the expansion of its renewable energy activities in West Africa.
DEG provides funding from its Up-scaling programme for Daystar Power to finance, install and operate hybrid solar power systems for commercial customers in West Africa. The co-financing is part of Daystar Power’s ongoing fundraising activities, targeting both equity and debt financing for the roll-out of its systems to leading African corporate customers.
Daystar Power has set itself the task of making a significant contribution to the electrification of the African continent and promoting the systematic expansion of renewable energy resources.
DEG, a subsidiary of KfW, is one of the world’s largest private-sector development financiers and is heavily committed to private-sector promotion in Africa with 17% (EUR 265 million) of its new business in 2017.
Christian Wessels, Managing Director of Sunray Ventures says:
“The lack of capital and its high costs are one of the key barriers to economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is especially true for asset intensive industries such as renewable energy generation. We are happy to work together with DEG, one of the world’s leading development finance institutions in financing, installing and operating solar power systems in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Marco Christ, Head of Development Programs and Business Support at DEG, says: “With the Up-scaling programme, DEG finances innovative pioneering investments. While the solar-home-system market has experienced substantial growth in Sub-Saharan-Africa in the last years, there is still a lack of larger commercial systems, especially with regard to systems on a lease basis. We are happy to partner with Sunray Ventures to set up this innovative initiative.”
