SUSTAINABLE SOLAR ASSETS 1 (PTY) LTD (DFC-2024-SUSTAINABLESOL)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Benin
  • Congo, Democratic Republic of
  • Madagascar
  • Mozambique
  • Sierra Leone
  • South Africa
  • Togo
  • Uganda
  • Zambia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Borrower
SustainSolar - Sustainable Solar Assets 1 (Pty) Ltd
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 6.11 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 6.11 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 12.05 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ DFC website

Updated in EWS Jan 6, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

As stated on the project disclosure document, the proceeds of the Loan will be used by the Borrower to finance the purchase of containerized solar generation systems and battery energy storage systems (“Containerized Solar Mini-Grids”) designed and assembled in South Africa by Sustainable Solar Systems, a subsidiary of the Sustainable Energy Group. The Borrower will provide short term vendor financing to decentralized clean energy developers across Sub Saharan Africa to facilitate their purchase of the Containerized Solar Mini-Grids.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

The investment consists of a US$ 6,108,800 direct loan with a 5-year tenor and 3-year availability period.

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated on the company's website, SustainSolar, a wholly owned subsidiary of SustainGroup, offers an innovative range of modular, plug-and-play solar powered and solar-ready solutions for various applications, including mini-grids, remote healthcare centers and Commercial and Industrial power users. Our products are made with top-tier components, and are designed in Cape Town, South Africa. Operating since 2018, SustainSolar has a strong presence in the sub-Saharan region. We have extensive experience in designing, commissioning, shipping and servicing turn key PV generation and battery storage systems across sub-Saharan Africa. With a robust track record, we've successfully installed over 80 systems across 15 African countries (Angola, Benin, DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia).

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - SustainSolar - Sustainable Solar Assets 1 (Pty) Ltd Client Energy

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

No project contacts provided at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Unlike many other development finance institutions, DFC does not currently have an access to information policy.

Under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), DFC is obliged to respond to reasonably formulated requests for Agency records. However, DFC may apply exemptions from release to certain types of information and may charge fees in responding to requests. DFC has a designated FOIA officer who is trained in how to respond to requests and implement the law. You can learn more about filing a FOIA request at: https://www.dfc.gov/foia

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION (DFC)

The Office of Accountability is an independent office that addresses complaints about environmental or social issues related to DFC-supported projects. The office provides communities an opportunity to have concerns independently reviewed and addressed. If you submit a complaint to the Office of Accountability, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a problem solving dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the DFC complied with its policies to prevent environmental, social, human rights, and labor harms.

You can find more information about the Office of Accountability at: https://www.dfc.gov/who-we-are/office-accountability

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