BBOXX Capital Ltd Issue 7: 5.5% Bond
£1,000,000 | 433 | 0 |
£175 invested
Each £175 invested will enable one family to buy a four light solar home system on a flexible payment plan to meet their needs.
5,400 families
Your investment into BBOXX Capital Ltd will allow them to expand their operations in eastern DRC to provide clean energy to 5,400 families.
BBOXX Ltd is a UK company that began operations in 2010. Their products have been sold in 35 countries, which has provided approximately 1,000,000 people in the developing world with access to smart, clean, and affordable energy solutions. They are a vertically integrated company, controlling every part of their customer experience; both as manufacturer of their BBOXX Home Solar Home System and as an off-grid energy service business. BBOXX has ambitious plans to provide 20 million people with access to clean, affordable energy by 2025.
This project benefits from match funding from UK aid. UK aid are providing a total of £250,000 of match funding into this offer, meaning that for every £3 invested into this project by the crowd and additional £1 will be invested through match funding.
About BBOXX
Key product information
Issuer: BBOXX Capital Ltd
Issuing Country: United Kingdom
Investment target: £1,000,000
Minimum investment: £50
Maximum investment: No maximum
Maturity: 36 months
Expected interest rate: 5.5% per annum
Witholding tax rate: 20% (applicable to UK residents who do not invest within an IF ISA)
Interest payment frequency: 6 monthly
Notional repayment: 6 monthly
Financial instrument: Unsecured interest bearing bond
Security: Unsecured
Key risks
This is a bond issued by a single company (rather than a savings product) and therefore it is recommended that you are careful with the amount you invest.
You must read the investment memorandum (provided below) where a full statement of risks is presented.
Documents
BBOXX in the media
The BBC's Business Live program recently featured an interview with the CEO of BBOXX, Mansoor Hamayun. BBOXX are one of the pioneering solar companies supported by the Energise Africa initiative, a joint venture between Lendahand and Ethex.
What the project investment will enable
BBOXX published a report in June 2018 to look at the opportunities and challenges of expanding their operations in DRC based on an initial pilot conducted in the Eastern city of Goma.
The report finds that DRC presents a unique opportunity in the Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) solar market - having a large urban population, but electrification rates of just 8% . With 62 million people living without access to the grid, it is also the largest off-grid market in the world without a major PAYG solar company currently operating. In fact, the state utility has just 500,000 connections in a country of 80 million people , and a look at the reliability of a grid connection might explain why DRC’s urban population would see connection to a reliable SHS as a brighter alternative!
The full report can be downloaded from the Shell Foundation website here.
BBOXX have plans to be present in 10 major cities across DRC by 2020 with the target of installing a further 85,000 solar home systems. Looking forward to 2025 their goal is to become the biggest energy provider in the country. BBOXX will use the funds from this raise to install 5,400 of their flagship BBOXX Home systems across the DRC from their distribution centre in Kigali.
BBOXX's Solar Home System, BBOXX Home, is Lighting Global Quality verified. BBOXX Home comes with a 50W solar panel and 17Ah battery, 4 LED lights (with a total output of 470 lumens), 2 USB ports, 6 12v ports, which can be used for running other appliances and a TV (optional).
The BBOXX Home systems can also be pay-as-you-go enabled. Customers make repayments and then own the systems outright typically after 36 months (but can vary depending on their personal Hire Purchase Agreement). After the fixed term, customers pay a monthly Energy Service Fee in order to cover maintenance costs.
BBOXX Capital Ltd
BBOXX Capital Ltd are looking to raise £1,000,000 from this bond issue as working capital to help expand their operations after their recent market entry into DRC. The money will be used for purchasing stock, which will be distributed across the eastern cities of Goma and Bukavu on the border with Rwanda. These are the optimal entry points for BBOXX into this market allowing them to serve 2 of the largest cities in DRC while leveraging their existing operations across the border in Rwanda.
BBOXX have currently installed 17,000 systems in the DRC providing families in DRC with clean, reliable electricity but with a combined population of close to 1.9million in these cities, BBOXX believe there is the potential for them to service up to 80,000 households with their SHS products.
Social and environmental impact
Solar home systems, such as BBOXX Home, have been shown to have a significant impact on customers' lives and the environment. To date, BBOXX has sold more than 200,000 systems, with the potential to provide approximately 1,000,000 people with access to solar energy.
Social Impact
The installation of solar home systems to off grid families has significant impacts that can be divided into the following categories: lifestyle, flexibility, health and safety, and economic. A recent survey of BBOXX customers revealed:
89%
of customers are not connected to the grid
87%
of customers said that their BBOXX SHS was the first product they had bought on credit
66%
of customers were previously using kerosene as their main source of light before accessing BBOXX
39%
of previous kerosene users reported having fire-related accidents from using it
88%
of previous kerosene users reported health issues from using it
95%
of customers said that pay-as-you-go as a payment method suits them
Environmental impact
Using industry-recognised Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) impact metrics, BBOXX has calculated the environmental impact of installing 5,400 BBOXX Home systems as follows:
27,000
Number of people who will enjoy clean energy access
$199USD
Average new household saving on energy-related expenditure over solar product lifetime
0.39tonnes
Total greenhouse gas emissions offset per household over the lifetime of the product