Chinese solar firm secures $80m loan to power four million Nigerian homes
Abdullateef Fowewe
Largest off-grid solar company, Sun King, has secured an 80million dollars loan in Nigeria currency from a World Bank-backed programme, to expand electricity access in four million homes in Nigeria.
Dailyeconomy gathered that the project backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Stanbic IBTC Bank is the largest naira-denominated energy access loan in West Africa.
Sun King, formerly Greenlight Planet, stated that the loan would be used to provide off-grid solar power to four million homes over the next four to five years, adding to the two million households it already serves.
In a statement on Thursday, shared by the Special Assistant to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the company’s Co-founder, Anish Thakkar, stated that the local-currency structure eliminates foreign exchange risks.
The statement reads, “Sun King, the world’s largest off-grid solar company, secured financing from a World Bank-backed programme to boost electrification in Nigeria.
“The company secured a naira-denominated loan of $80 million from the International Finance Corp. and Stanbic IBTC Bank Ltd., it said in a statement on Thursday. It’s the largest local-currency facility for energy access in West Africa to date.
“The money will help finance the provision of electricity to as many 4 million households over the next four to five years, adding to the 2 million Sun King already has funded, Chief Financial Officer Krishna Swaroop said. Sun King was formerly known as Greenlight Planet.”
However, the co-founder of the company, Anish Thakkar, in an interview said, “What’s really exciting about this is that it’s a local-currency facility, so the company doesn’t have to take foreign-exchange risk.
“It allows us to provide the most affordable financing to customers.”
“The loan falls under a World Bank and African Development Bank drive to bring electricity to 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. The Mission 300 program envisages tens of billions of dollars of investments in energy projects being rolled out across the continent and was highlighted at an inaugural conference in Tanzania earlier this year.
“The loan is the biggest local-currency facility secured by Sun King and follows a $75 million deal in Kenya in 2021.
“Nigeria, where about 90 million people have no access to electricity, has been a major focus of the World Bank’s electrification programs. In December, the bank facilitated a $750 million loan to Nigeria for electrification using renewable power technologies. It expects private investment of more than $1 billion to be attracted as a result and electricity access to be extended to 17.5 million people,” Onanuga had written.
