Fintech firm, Payhippo, empowers business owners on renewable energy

As businesses continue to struggle with lack of access to affordable and reliable energy, Payhippo, a fintech company, recently unveiled innovative payment plans to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) bridge their energy needs.

“To provide a viable alternative for these businesses and households, we decided to work with the solar ecosystem within Nigeria to make solar equipment more accessible to businesses and households,” Damilola Olawoye, CEO, Payhippo, stated during the recent Payhippo Solar Expo: Financing the Solar Ecosystem, held in Lagos for installers and vendors.

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According to him, the decision to host the expo followed feedback from MSMEs indicating that power was a major challenge for their businesses. “We found out that power is one of the biggest challenges they face – both the cost of power and also the reliability.”

He also disclosed that the AI powered company makes solar equipment more affordable by providing finance solutions which reduce the upfront cash outlay required by installers and end-users for their purchases. “To make the equipment more affordable and accessible to all, Payhippo resolved to enlighten installers and end users on its offers.”

Accordingly, Olawoye said that the partnership would make it easier for installers to buy stocks and help them sell their products by providing loans to their end users, describing installers as a critical component in the solar equipment distribution chain.

Dayo Adewale, head of sales, Payhippo, said that financing the ecosystem would significantly help to reduce the expenditure of business owners in the country, and described the empowerment initiative as problem-solving.

Adewale also disclosed that the company supports businesses through its inventory financing for installers and vendors, while it also provides asset finance for customers.

“We are playing into the renewable energy space because we know that this is a much-needed solution for this current economic crisis. Owners can better manage their businesses when they have renewable energy.

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“We finance the vendors to buy more from their distributors and finance their customers by making loans available for end users who want to buy solar systems for installation in homes, shops, and offices but don’t have money to buy.

“They only make a 30 percent down payment and we finance 70 percent. The loan can be repaid within three months, six months, nine months, or 12 months, as the case may be,” Adewale said.