Solar firm raises $12 million for clean energy 

An energy firm, Okra Solar, known for pioneering mesh-grid technology, has closed a financing deal worth $12 million in Nigeria.

The deal, announced on Monday included a debt and equity with $7.85M raised on equity led by At One Ventures, along with FMO, Susquehanna Private Equity Investments LLLP, Autodesk Foundation and King Philanthropies. The debt financing was provided by EDFi.

The move is meant to increase Nigeria’s off-grid energy market by presenting a compelling solution to energy developers to push rural electrification.

With the wobbling performance of the grid in Nigeria as well as the low level of energy access, off-grid solutions offer Nigeria a leeway to power rural communities, especially unserved and underserved communities.
Partner, At One Ventures, Helen Lin, noted that the compounding effects of population growth and growing industrialisation would further increase energy consumption on the African continent.

“The IEA forecasts that total power generation capacity in Africa is expected to double to 510 GW by 2030. There is no reason for this new power generation capacity to come from dirty fossil fuel power. We can skip that phase entirely and build it correctly from the start – clean, renewable, and suited to the needs of this market,” Lin said.

With mesh grids already being deployed in four countries, energizing more than 14,000 people, the demand for the technology and the business model has been proven.
“FMO is proud to partner with Okra on their pioneering journey to leverage mesh-grid technology to help electrify rural areas and provide affordable power to last-mile households and businesses. We look forward to our collaboration with the Okra team and will actively leverage our value-add services to support their scaling ambitions,” Manager of FMO Ventures Program, Marieke Roestenberg said.

When asked what the biggest challenge is for Okra Solar to scale “It is clear that mesh-grids are the most efficient way to achieve last-mile electrification. It starts by ensuring off-grid people have access to basic services such as lighting, e-cooking and water pumping, and next, to have all of these people connect to the global digital economy. Now we need the regulations to keep up with exponential technology advancement for us to hit 100 per cent electrification by 2030,” Chief Executive Officer of Okra Solar, Afnan Hannan, said.