AIIM fund invests in BBOXX businesses

10 million people will gain energy access following a deal between BBOXX, a next generation utility platform, and Africa Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM). AIIM, though its AIIF3 fund, is investing USD 31 million for a minority stake in BBOXX’s operations in Rwanda, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The deal with AIIM – Africa’s largest and most experienced infrastructure-focused private equity fund manager and a member of Old Mutual Alternative Investments with USD 2.1 billion AUM – will allow BBOXX to install two million solar systems by 2022, bringing electricity to 10 million people in these African countries.

This investment will accelerate the roll-out of BBOXX’s solar systems which combine solar panels and batteries with pioneering technology, available on a pay-as-you-go basis via mobile money.

The funds will be applied across BBOXX’s distribution mix, positively impacting a range of customers including households, schools and SMEs across rural, urban and peri-urban regions. It will help in enabling economic growth in these communities by creating new markets through the entry point of electricity.

This AIIM investment is the latest in a string of deals that has seen BBOXX forge strategic partnerships across the industry, working with leading global electricity company EDF in Togo, world-leading telecommunications firm Orange in West Africa, as well as technological partners, investment institutions and local governments, to expand energy access at scale.

BBOXX has brought electricity to 750,000 people in frontier markets, with substantial operations in countries including, Rwanda, Kenya, Togo, the DRC, Nigeria and Pakistan.