LAPO MfB announces financing for electric, CNG mobility

… Bank partners Sparrow Mobility, Orbit Electric and REXOX CNG to make cleaner transport more accessible to Nigerian entrepreneurs

LAPO Microfinance Bank has announced financing for electric mobility and CNG-powered transportation through partnerships with Sparrow Mobility, Orbit Electric Limited and REXOX CNG, as part of efforts to reduce the cost barrier to cleaner transportation for Nigerian entrepreneurs.

The financing will support customers seeking electric mobility solutions as well as eligible vehicle and tricycle conversions to compressed natural gas, giving commercial operators and small businesses more options as transportation and fuel costs continue to pressure their margins.

For LAPO MfB, the initiative goes beyond financing vehicles. It connects access to capital with financial inclusion, enterprise growth and Nigeria’s sustainable development priorities.

“The transition to sustainable mobility will only become meaningful when it is accessible to the people whose livelihoods depend on transportation every day. At LAPO MfB, we see finance as a bridge between innovation and inclusion, helping entrepreneurs access productive assets, manage operating costs and participate in the transition to a more sustainable economy,” said Efosa Evbuomwan, Head of Strategy and Partnership at LAPO MfB.

Through its partnership with Sparrow Mobility and Orbit Electric, the bank is supporting access to electric mobility solutions, while the REXOX CNG partnership provides financing for eligible vehicles and tricycles to be converted to CNG.

The initiative also advances the Sustainable Development Goals by combining clean-energy access under SDG 7 with enterprise and employment under SDG 8, innovation and infrastructure under SDG 9, sustainable cities under SDG 11, and climate action under SDG 13.

The mobility financing builds on LAPO MfB’s wider clean-energy lending programme. Since 2017, its Green Clean Lending Initiative has financed more than 768,000 clean-energy products, with cumulative disbursements exceeding N21.72bn.

With transportation accounting for a significant share of operating costs for many MSMEs and commercial operators, the bank’s latest move positions affordable financing as a key enabler of Nigeria’s transition to cleaner mobility.

The objective, ultimately, is to make the shift to electric and cleaner-fuel transportation not only an environmental choice, but a financially viable business decision for the entrepreneurs who depend on mobility every day.