MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Baobab+ Borrows $1.3m from Oikocredit to Boost Household Access to Technology, Solar Energy in Rural Côte d’Ivoire

The Ivorian unit of the France-based renewable energy company Baobab+ recently borrowed EUR 1.2 million (USD 1.3 million) from Dutch cooperative investor Oikocredit. Baobab+ is active in six African countries, primarily selling solar panel kits, solar lamps and touchscreen tablets. The firm sells many of these items on a pay-as-you-go basis, whereby users’ devices can be turned on or off remotely depending on the timing of customer payments. Baobab+ provides the pay-as-you-go option via Angaza, a firm with offices in Kenya and the US. The purpose of the loan from Oikocredit is to expand the work of Baobab+ in rural and semi-urban parts of Côte d’Ivoire.

Baobab+ is a subsidiary of the Baobab Group, a France-based corporation whose other subsidiaries are microfinance institutions (MFIs) active in China and eight African countries. Baobab+ sells its products – a total of 250,000 since its founding in 2015 – through many of the Baobab Group’s MFI subsidiaries. As of 2022, Baobab Group had 4,300 employees serving 457,000 customers with EUR 335 million (USD 366 million) in deposits held. During that year, the group disbursed loans totaling EUR 1.0 billion (USD 1.1 billion) with an average loan amount of EUR 4,570 (USD 5,000).

Oikocredit was established in 1975 and is active in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. As of March 2023, the coop reports capital of EUR 1.0 billion (USD 1.1 billion) outstanding to about 500 partner organizations active in financial inclusion, agriculture and renewable energy.

By Rohit Dayanand, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

Oikocredit press releasehttps://www.oikocredit.coop/k/en/n2613/news/view/366014/9049/oikocredit-invests-1-2-million-in-baobab-to-support-off-grid-households-in-cote-d-ivoire.html

Baobab+ homepagehttps://baobabplus.com

Baobab Group homepagehttps://baobab.com/

Baobab Group impact reporthttps://baobab.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/2022-Impact-Report.pdf

Angaza homepagehttps://www.angaza.com

Oikocredit homepagehttps://www.oikocredit.coop

Previous MicroCapital brief on Angazahttps://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-angaza-sima-launch-distributor-financing-fund-for-off-grid-solar-power/

Previous MicroCapital brief on Oikocredithttps://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-oikocredit-lending-4-9m-to-support-msmes-led-by-women-in-paraguay-via-ueno-app/

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