Fenix, which was established in 2009, has its main activities in Uganda. It has recently expanded into Zambia and intends to enter other African countries.
ReadyPay Power product of Fenix provides lighting, phone charging and power for television sets and radios.
The company offers this technology on a lease-to-own basis under which off-grid customers finance their power system through micro installments over Mobile Money.
The financing of the solar home system will be used to build a credit score for each customer. The score can be used to power and finance other products and services from Fenix.
Enclude and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised Fenix on this transaction.
According to the World Bank, the off-grid home solar market is rapidly growing in Africa, where more than 600 million people lack access to clean energy.
Engie has set a goal of providing 20 million people around the world with access to decarbonized, decentralized energy by 2020, and Fenix’s strength in the African home solar market is expected to help Engie in meeting this goal.
Engie Africa chief executive officer Bruno Bensasson said: “Fenix will be the agile growth engine for Engie’s SHS business in Africa and enable us to become a leading profitable off-grid energy services company on the continent, reaching millions of customers by 2020.”
Fenix International chief executive officer Lyndsay Handler said: “To date, Fenix has delivered reliable solar power to over 900,000 people in East Africa.”
“Together with Engie’s ambitions, experience, talent and long-term investments, we will deliver affordable power and other life-changing products to customers across Africa and make universal access to modern energy a reality.”
