Investment Returns are Getting Worse#74

I’ve noticed your investment returns are getting worse. Energise Africa is offering the same Bisedge investment opportunity with 6% return for any value investment. You are only offering 5.25% maximum return. In addition Energise Africa is more reliable. Can you please review your investment strategy especially in the light of infration pressures. Perhaps lowering your take a per cent or so….

Thanks for your feedback! We have seen very large and attractive opportunities in the commercial and industrial solar market (Commercial & Industrial, C&I). However, the pricing and terms of loans look different in that market, mainly due to the underlying contracts that the solar energy companies have with their end customers. The competition and also the risk in the market look different compared to SHS.

All this together, and also factors such as DFC investment protection, means that the interest rate ends up lower than what you have seen before with Trine.

The reason for the high interest rate of Energise Africa is often due to a lower security in the loans. Trine has a senior secured position in most of our C&I loans. If you look at the overall portfolio performance of Energise Africa, currently 14 % is late or defaulted and another 6 % will be added when Redavia is updated. Generally Energise Africa has a larger fee upfront for the borrower compared to Trine. Trine, instead, has a lower ongoing fee which means that we only make money when our investors make money.