Sustainable economic growth is one of the most important factors for improving the quality of life on the African continent. In this regard, Kenya is one of the fastest developing countries and a trading hub in East Africa. In 2021, the Kenyan economy grew by 6.7% after contracting by 0.3% in 2020. Small and medium enterprises are at the heart of Kenya’s economy and growth in this regard. According to a 2019 report by the International Trade Center, they account for about 98% of all businesses in Kenya and create 80% of new jobs annually.

However, excessively high electricity costs, as well as unreliable power supply leading to production stoppages, pose major problems for businesses, forcing them to look for alternatives to the national electricity supplier. Many companies are therefore opting for a clean and reliable power supply from renewable energy sources and against the use of diesel generators.

The Ariya Group of Companies has addressed this issue by developing, financing and implementing customised green energy systems in Kenya. These include photovoltaic (PV) solar systems, smart integrated batteries and power stabilisation technologies. Ariya Group focuses on established commercial and industrial (C&I in English) clients operating in various sectors in Kenya.

With this crowdfunding, Ariya Finergy Limited aims to finance 4 MW of solar PV systems and battery systems at established businesses in East Africa. The average size of the systems to be installed is expected to be 300 kWp, resulting in about 13 systems being installed at various businesses so that they can benefit from clean solar power and cost savings. In addition, Ariya intends to use the loan to finance its operations and growth in East Africa.

With its business model, Ariya actively contributes to four of the UN’s sustainable development goals (“SDGs“):

By installing solar panels, Ariya’s customers receive clean, renewable electricity, which is a cost-effective alternative compared to the Kenyan electricity grid or diesel generators (Goal 7.2).

Many of Ariya’s customers are involved in agriculture (~ 57 % of Kenya’s workforce), more specifically in tea, horticulture and floriculture (~ 33 % of Kenya’s exports). Furthermore, a single tea factory employs on average 3000 people, each of whom generates the income for a family of four. Expensive electricity, frequent power outages and poor power quality are recurring problems. An intelligently designed solar system can thus have an indirect impact on economic sustainable growth (Goal 8.1).

Ariya’s holistic approach combines various innovative technologies such as solar thermal collectors and cost-effective battery energy storage systems to help its customers meet the energy needs of their industrial processes. The intelligently designed systems also address the shortcomings of the electricity infrastructure, which mainly lead to expensive electricity, frequent power outages and poor power quality (Goal 9.4). By providing financing to its customers, Ariya also contributes to Goal 9.3.

Ariya’s business model addresses climate change (Goal 13), as its solar panels and other energy efficiency solutions replace diesel generators and grid electricity (80% of which is generated by thermal power plants) and significantly reduce CO2. Similarly, Ariya also contributes directly to this goal by replacing unsustainable firewood-fuelled heating with solar thermal.

By switching to solar energy, the companies can increase their environmental sustainability by reducing their CO2 emissions. It is expected that with this financing, a total of 4 MW of solar systems will be installed, generating 5,900 MWh of solar electricity annually, saving 2,944.1 tonnes of CO2 per year.

The average CO2 emissions per kWh of electricity from the general energy supply mix of the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, the public grid operator in Kenya, were used as the basis for the calculation. This rate is currently 499 g/kWh. Over the lifetime of the project, this results in a CO2 saving of 14,720 tonnes, and over the lifetime of a solar system of about 25 years, 73,600 tonnes of CO2 can be avoided.

The investment risks associated with the subordinated loan are described in detail in the VIB under item 5 and in the risk notes. The measures taken to mitigate the risks are explained in this section: 

(a) Dual company structure:

Two special purpose vehicles (SPVs) are used for the crowdfunding campaign:

1. The first, named Ariya Emissions 2 UG (haftungsbeschränkt), acts as borrower and issuer and is based in Germany. It forwards the collected capital as a secured project loan to the local asset company Ariya Finergy Limited (AFL). In return, collateral is pledged to it (see further down in this text section). Furthermore, Ariya Emissions 2 UG does not engage in any other business activities during the entire term of the loan in order not to mix the risk with other projects. The shareholders and managing directors of Ariya Emissions 2 UG (haftungsbeschränkt) are independent of the Ariya Group. In addition, Ariya Emissions 2 UG (haftungsbeschränkt) has a liquidity buffer of 25,000 euros of the funds collected in the crowdfunding. The liquidity buffer serves as a financial cushion for any necessary measures by the issuer in the event that the project owner fails to meet its payment obligations.

2. The second special purpose vehicle, the Kenyan Ariya Finergy Limited (AFL), is the local asset company used by Ariya for the purpose of financing as a pure asset company. It acts as borrower vis-à-vis Ariya Emissions 2 UG (haftungsbeschränkt) and remains the owner of the project assets financed and generated with the project loan, which are pledged to the German UG, for the entire term of the loan. AFL may not take out any further loans during the term of this loan without the consent of Ariya Emissions 2 UG (haftungsbeschränkt). AFL may not engage in any business activity other than that in which it is already engaged during the term of the Loan.

(b) Project Assets:

The assets financed by the Kenyan project company AFL in the context of this campaign are available to the German issuer Ariya Emissions 2 UG (haftungsbeschränkt) as collateral for the on-lending loan. The assets are in particular the solar plants financed with the crowdfunding and leased to customers or the customer receivables of AFL from power purchase agreements (PPAs) with customers. projects planned under this financing will generate customer receivables of EUR 4,214,000 over the entire term.

c) Payments in USD or Euro:

All contracts, with a few exceptions, provide for customers to pay in USD or Euro. Since the majority of Ariya’s customers operate internationally and generate sales in hard currency, this decisively reduces currency risks in the local currency KES.

d) Equity financing:

AFL had a gearing ratio of 2.62 at the end of 2021, representing an equity ratio of 28%. The disbursement of the crowd loan is linked to the condition that AFL demonstrates an equity ratio of at least 25%.

The same threshold applies for the entire term of the loan. With the consent of the issuer Ariya Emissions UG 2 (haftungsbeschränkt), AFL may fall below this value for a limited time and up to a lower limit of 20%. From the perspective of the issuer in Germany, the own funds represent a buffer against losses, for example from currency risks between customer payments in USD and payment obligations from the project loan to the issuer in EUR.

Investment needs

A total of 4.2 million euros is needed for the entire project, which will be used on the one hand to finance PV solar plants and battery systems for Ariya’s customers in East Africa. On the other hand, it will be used to finance the company’s business operations and growth. The loan will thus cover the costs of staff, sales and management support functions, as well as the acquisition and operation of the solar PV and battery systems and related services. The crowdfunding is expected to finance €3,275,700.00 (including fees).

The term of the loan is 5 years and has an annual interest rate of 6% p.a. for the crowdinvestors. Investors who invest in the project up to and including 30.11.2022 will also receive an early bird bonus of 1% (i.e. a total of 7% p.a.). Repayment takes place once a year and includes repayment and interest (annuity repayment). The funding threshold in this project is €50,000. If only this amount is reached, the project owner will still use the investor funds to finance his business activities and invest to a lesser extent in the above-mentioned projects.

Repayment

The liquid funds for the repayments to the investors consist of the sales proceeds of the solar plants and the sale of the clean solar electricity, which is regulated by a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

The webinar of Ariya Finergy Limited took place on 15.11.2022 at 6 pm. The two founders Jenny Fletcher (CEO) and Troy Barrie (CTO) presented the project and their company and answered the audience’s questions. You can watch the recording of the webinar here.

To create an additional social impact, Ariya will donate 2% to the IMANI orphanage in Kenya for every investment received from 15/11/2022 up to and including 24/12/2022.

Imani Rehabilitation Agency is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the care and protection, rehabilitation, education, primary health care and reintegration of orphans and vulnerable children. It was established in 1992 and has grown from one home for 20 children to an average of 300 children being cared for in the 6 Imani homes.

Ariya had already successfully implemented a similar action in the last crowdfunding project 2021 through the support of bettervestors – you can find a few impressions below.