British International Investment (BII) and Odyssey Energy Solutions, a technology company accelerating distributed energy in emerging markets, have launched a new $7.5 million financing facility to fast-track the deployment of electricity mini-grids for families and businesses across Nigeria.
This new facility comes at a critical time, as Nigeria ramps up its mini-grid ambitions under the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) program, 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.
The new facility has the potential to scale up to meet the demand generated by the DARES program by partnering with a growing network of qualified developers and suppliers to accelerate project execution and reduce time to electrification.
The deputy high commissioner, British High Commission Lagos, Jonny Baxter, said, “British International Investment (BII) has demonstrated its confidence in Nigeria’s clean energy sector through its strategic investments.
“This signals 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,” he said.
The 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 are vital in rapidly reducing that number. I am delighted that BII is partnering with Odyssey to accelerate the development of such projects.”
The co-founder and managing director of Odyssey Energy Solutions, Piyush Mathur, noted that “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 over 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 accelerate the clean energy transition in emerging markets rapidly. 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.
