January 12th, 2021
The investment will allow West Africa’s fastest growing C&I solar provider to accelerate its regional expansion.
LAGOS, Nigeria Jan 12 2020 — Daystar Power, a leading provider of hybrid solar power solutions to businesses in West Africa, today announced a Series B investment of $38 million. The round was led by the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), the Danish development finance institution (DFI). IFU is joined by new investors STOA, a French impact infrastructure fund, Proparco, the French DFI, backed by a guarantee from the European Union under the African Renewable Energy Scale-Up facility (ARE Scale-Up) and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Taking into account the previous round by Verod Capital and Persistent Energy, Daystar Power has received equity investments totaling $48 million.
With the fundraise, Daystar Power will grow its operations in its key markets of Nigeria and Ghana, while deepening its presence in other regional countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Togo. Daystar Power is on track to expand its installed capacity to over 100 megawatts, meeting demand from its clients in the financial services, manufacturing, agricultural and natural resources sectors. Daystar Power will continue to enhance its digital offerings and expand its local teams.
“By offering our commercial and industrial clients cheaper, reliable and cleaner power, we have seen a more than 50-fold increase in power-as-a-service revenue over the last two years,” said Jasper Graf von Hardenberg, CEO and Co-founder of Daystar Power. “African businesses are realizing that solar power — stand-alone or in tandem with a second power source — is a superior energy alternative to the often-unreliable grid or too expensive, polluting diesel generators.”
“We believe that Daystar Power has the right elements — the client base, technology, engineering expertise, and executive leadership — to scale off-grid solar across West Africa. Not only is Daystar Power at the forefront of a growing market, it is helping to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy in some of Africa’s fastest growing cities,” said Thomas Hougaard, Vice President Sub-Saharan Africa, IFU.
“STOA is excited to start this journey alongside Daystar which is perfectly positioned to provide reliable, environmentally friendly and cheap electricity to businesses across West Africa. This investment reflects a core part of our mission – we aim to invest more than 50% of our capital in Africa and in renewable energies,” said Charles-Henri Malecot, CEO, STOA.
“Proparco is delighted to support the growth of Daystar Power (DSP) which represents our third commitment under the ARESUF facility backed by the European Union. In line with Proparco’s objectives of improving energy access and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, this funding will enable DSP to expand reliable power supply at competitive cost to West Africa’s C&I sector,” Damien Braud, Head of Private Equity Africa & Middle East division, Proparco.
“Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s Climate Impact Solutions fund seeks to generate compelling returns with a focus on helping to solve critical climate issues. Our aim in partnering with the team at Daystar Power is to help deploy clean energy at commercial scale – creating a positive, long-lasting environmental, health and financial impact in West Africa,” said Vikram Raju, Head of Climate Impact, Morgan Stanley Investment Management AIP Private Markets.
“Sunray Ventures founded Daystar Power to address one of West Africa’s most significant barriers to economic development — access to reliable and affordable power. We are happy that this transaction will provide Daystar Power with the required financing to continue to lead in off-grid solar for commercial and industrial customers in West Africa,” said Christian Wessels, Co-Founder of Daystar Power and Sunray Ventures.
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ABOUT DAYSTAR POWER
Daystar Power is a leading off-grid power service provider, offering hybrid power solutions to commercial and industrial businesses in West Africa. Daystar Power’s solutions “Solar-as-a-Service” (100% solar power) and “Power-as-a-Service” (hybrid power solutions with battery storage) provide clean and reliable power while significantly reducing clients’ overall power costs.
Daystar Power’s clients pay a flat monthly fee or a variable tariff (per kilowatt hour) for premium power services, which include a power audit and assessment of energy needs, a bespoke proposal, installation, and full operation & maintenance. Clients do not incur any capital expenditure and do not pay up-front costs. By outsourcing the management of their power systems, Daystar Power clients are able to focus more on running their core businesses.
Daystar Power counts the region’s leading industrial and commercial companies among its client base and is active in Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Senegal with a representative office in Cote d’Ivoire. Founded in 2017, by the African venture builder Sunray Ventures, Daystar has 23 MW of installed power capacity and has offset approximately 5,000 MT of CO2 to date.
Find out more at http://www.daystar-power.com
ABOUT IFU
The Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) is a Danish impact investor contributing to a green, just and inclusive economy as well as supporting the Sustainable Development Goals. We provide risk capital to companies operating in developing countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and parts of Europe. Investments are made on commercial terms in the form of equity, loans and guarantees. IFU has co-invested in 1,300 companies in more than 100 developing countries and emerging markets. Contracted investments total USD 33 billion, of which IFU has contributed DKK 3.6 billion. Capital under management is USD 1.8 billion.
ABOUT STOA
STOA is a joint stock company (société anonyme) with an initial share capital of €240 million, 83.3% owned by Caisse des Dépôts (“CDC”) and 16.7% owned by Agence Française de Développement (“AFD”), the object of which is to invest up to €600 million in equity and quasi equity in the infrastructure and power sectors of developing and emerging countries. STOA benefits from the complementary support and expertise of its two shareholders. Caisse des Dépôts is a public long-term investor serving the general interest and economic development of local areas; AFD is the French Public Development Bank which commits to financing projects in key transition sectors in developing and emerging countries. In the context of their joint strategy, these two institutions are fully committed to play a key role in the four major transitions, the energy/environmental, digital, territorial and demographic transitions.
Find out more at https://www.stoainfraenergy.com/
ABOUT PROPARCO
PROPARCO, AFD’s private sector financing arm, has been working for 40 years to promote sustainable economic, social and environmental development. PROPARCO participates in financing and supporting companies and financial institutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Its action focuses on the key development sectors: infrastructure, mainly for renewable energies, agribusiness, financial institutions, health, education… Its operations aim to strengthen the contribution that private actors make to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the international community in 2015. To this end, PROPARCO finances companies whose activities contribute to creating jobs and decent incomes, the provision of essential goods and services, and the fight against climate change.
Find out more at
http://www.proparco.fr
ABOUT MORGAN STANLEY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Morgan Stanley Investment Management, together with its investment advisory affiliates, has more than 729 investment professionals around the world and $715 billion in assets under management or supervision as of September 30, 2020. Morgan Stanley Investment Management strives to provide outstanding long-term investment performance, service and a comprehensive suite of investment management solutions to a diverse client base, which includes governments, institutions, corporations and individuals worldwide. For further information about Morgan Stanley Investment Management, please visit www.morganstanley.com/im
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