Solar company receives £150,000 to fund Northern Nigeria expansion

folarin okunola

April 29, 2016 4:37 PM

Nova-Lumos is partnering with MTN to provide residential solar systems under a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model across Nigeria.

The company is expected to use the funds for expansion into Northern Nigeria

Media reports reveal that solar specialist Nova-Lumos has received a £150,000 (US$219,000) grant from the SolarNigera Programme (SNP), an initiative of the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) implemented by Adam Smith International, to help accelerate its operations in northern Nigeria.

According to Innovation Village, Nova-Lumos is partnering with MTN to provide residential solar systems under a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) model across Nigeria. Consumers use mobile payments and transfer cash via text messaging to pay for power in advance.

READ: First phase of the largest concentrated solar power plant in the world has been launched

“There is definitely a need for some more risk-orientated financiers, whether it would be DFIs or multilateral development banks or impact funders to come and take the initial risk of financing. The biggest challenge of this sector would be eventually how to [get] commercial oriented and institutional investor funders,” said Ron Margalit, principal, impact financing at Nova-Lumos.

Reports also confirm that Nova-Lumos recently received $15 million financing from the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), to fund the deployment of over 75,000 systems across Nigeria this year.

folarin okunola