Hot SourceEmmanuel Addeh in Abuja
British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, and Odyssey Energy Solutions, a technology company accelerating distributed energy in emerging markets, have launched a new financing facility to support the rollout of electricity mini-grids for families and businesses across Nigeria.
With $7.5 million funding from BII, the facility leverages Odyssey’s proprietary procurement platform and supply chain credit solution to support mini-grid developers, a statement in Abuja said.
The finance will be deployed to support Nigeria’s Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) programme backed by the World Bank, which aims to improve energy access for 17.5 million Nigerians.
Specifically, Odyssey works to bridge the gap between commitment and disbursement of DARES connections-based subsidies by addressing the financing bottleneck of upfront costs such as acquiring equipment and import duties.
Through this offering, developers can procure high-quality solar and energy storage equipment with minimal upfront capital, paying back as projects reach revenue-generating milestones, the statement added.
This provides some key benefits for Nigerian solar companies including: Competitive pricing through aggregated procurement; flexible payments, improving working capital; faster procurement cycles, accelerating deployment timelines; end-to-end logistics support, from customs to last-mile delivery and high-quality, vetted equipment, ensuring system reliability.
The new facility comes at a critical time, as Nigeria ramps up its mini-grid ambitions under the DARES programme, backed by the World Bank. With DARES endeavouring to improve energy access for 17.5 million Nigerians, the demand for streamlined procurement and innovative financing is more urgent than ever, it said.
The new facility, it said, has the potential of scaling up to meet the demand generated by the programme by partnering with a growing network of qualified developers and suppliers to accelerate project execution and reduce time to electrification.
British Deputy High Commissioner, Lagos, Jonny Baxter, said: “British International Investment (BII) has demonstrated its confidence in Nigeria’s clean energy sector through its strategic investments. This is a signal that opportunities for the private sector to drive forward the renewable energy revolution in Nigeria and across Africa are growing.
“UK finance is playing a pivotal role- helping to unlock green growth and establish Britain as a credible global partner on climate action in line with our Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) with Nigeria.”
West Africa Regional Director at BII, Benson Adenuga, said: “About 90 million people in Nigeria do not have access to electricity. Mini-Grids powered by clean and affordable energy sources have a vital role to play in rapidly reducing that number. I am delighted that BII is partnering with Odyssey to accelerate the development of such projects.”
Also, Piyush Mathur, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Odyssey Energy Solutions, said: “BII has demonstrated a progressive and practical approach to unlocking financing challenges in distributed energy.
“Their support allows us to offer flexible, affordable financing options that meet developers where they are, so that we can collectively accelerate electrification across Nigeria.”
With more than 3,000 installers and over $3 billion of available finance on the platform, Odyssey Procurement is the latest addition to Odyssey’s end-to-end platform, built to rapidly accelerate the clean energy transition in emerging markets.
By integrating procurement, financing and monitoring into a single solution, Odyssey streamlines the solar project lifecycle—enabling companies to scale more quickly, operate efficiently, and deliver clean energy faster than ever before.
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