Impact investors All On and Katapult Climate are investing $1.4 million in NXT Grid. In Nigeria, the company installs and operates small-scale solar power plants for productive use, powered by artificial intelligence.
NXT Grid’s assets will grow in Nigeria over the next two years.
The solar mini-grid company is raising $1.4 million to fund its expansion. The funds were raised from Katapult Climate and All On, an investment company funded by Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell, and very active in the renewable energy sector in Nigeria.
The Amsterdam, Netherlands-based electricity access solutions provider will leverage the funding to build 30 solar mini-grids by 2023. “All On has been a great partner for our Nigerian operations since their initial investment in 2020, while Katapult has given us access to key resources to be fully prepared for our growth in the coming years.
Strengthening our relationship with such strategic investors is another step on our path to realizing solar mini-grids across Nigeria,” said Fabio De Pascale, CEO and co-founder of NXT Grid.
For its customers, especially professionals, the company installs solar power generation equipment powered by artificial intelligence. NXT Grid has enormous development potential in a Nigerian context marked by the desire of companies to gain autonomy from the public electricity grid, which is plagued by load shedding.
According to the World Bank, Nigerian businesses lose $29 billion every year due to the unreliability of the national power grid. In response, Nigerian companies are turning to stand-alone solutions, including solar photovoltaic systems. Recently, soft drink manufacturer Seven-Up Bottling Company (SBC) teamed up with solar energy provider Daystar Power to equip five of its factories with solar PV systems in Nigeria.
Also, last month, All On announces a $1 million investment in Salpha Energy. The Nigerian company distributes solar home systems in rural Nigeria where access to electricity is lowest.
In Nigeria, Salpha Energy is receiving new financial support to accelerate its operations in rural areas. Recently, the Lagos-based company received a $1 million investment from All On, an investment company funded by Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell. The funding will allow the solar kit supplier to expand its range and stock of equipment dedicated to electrification.
According to All On, its investment will also help expand sales channels and customer service infrastructure, and test more flexible pricing models to sustainably manage rural customers in Nigeria’s states.
“All On’s contribution will strengthen a highly scalable opportunity by rapidly deploying power assets to homes in Nigeria and facilitate the adoption of a sustainable power payment culture in the Niger Delta and beyond,” the Wiebe Boer-led investment firm says.
Salpha Energy claims 350 users consisting of individuals, cooperatives and small businesses. Its solar systems are distributed via mobile money, a cell phone payment service. To do this, Salpha Energy has signed partnerships with providers of this financial inclusion service, including InfiBranches, Paga and Interswitch.
All On’s investment complements a $50,000 financing obtained by Salpha Energy as part of the Nigeria Off-Grid Energy Challenge. The competition, organized by All On and the U.S. Afrikans Development Foundation (USADF), aims to provide funding to Nigerian companies that are developing, scaling up or expanding the use of proven off-grid energy technologies to reach communities not served by the national power grid.
The most populous country on the African continent with a population estimated by the World Bank to exceed 206 million by 2020, Nigeria has an electricity access rate of 60 per cent according to Power Africa. In rural areas, 66 per cent of households still do not have access to electricity.
