Okra Solar secures $4.5m funding to deploy distributed solar networks in Nigeria
In order to electrify underserved or unserved communities, Okra Solar, which was founded in 2016, develops mesh-grid technology, which is made up of their unique Okra Pod and sold along with PV panels, batteries, and inverters.
At the core of Okra Solar’s value proposition is the Okra Pod, an unique device that enables the solar systems placed at each home to communicate and exchange power over a low voltage transmission connection (forming a so-called mesh-grid).
The business is currently concentrating on the extremely critical Nigerian market. Throughout the next two to three years, it is intended to launch a number of pilot projects to energize more than 30 000 households in Nigeria.
The investment made by EDFI ElectriFI consists of a revolving working capital facility that is intended to close the financing gap in the supply chain, assist Okra in taking advantage of the high demand for their technology, expand their market share in Nigeria, and ultimately hasten sustainable electrification.
The technology that Okra Solar created is revolutionary. We take great pride in helping to facilitate and hasten the growth of mini- and micro-grids for rural electrification in Nigeria. We are convinced that the highly qualified Okra Team will succeed in this complicated business given the numerous honors Okra has garnered, said Maud Watelet, ElectriFI Senior Investment Officer at EDFI MC.
In spite of the fact that grid extension for remote villages is 10 times more expensive than mesh-grids, 80 million people in Nigeria still live off the grid. According to Afnan Hannan, co-founder and CEO of Okra Solar, “Okra is tremendously happy to cooperate with EDFI ElectriFI to implement revolutionary financial technologies that will enable local developers to install mesh-grids at scale and continue quickly giving power to the people.
Nigeria’s ElectriFI Country Window was created in collaboration with host governments and EU Delegations. It significantly supports Team Europe’s national electrification strategy.
Through the ElectriFI Nigeria Country Window, the European Union supports Okra in its mission to speed up energy access for individuals in underserved and unserved regions. Inga Stefanowicz, Head of Green and Digital Economy at the Delegation of the European Union to the Federal Republic of Nigeria & ECOWAS, said that as a result, it is at the core of our partnership with Nigeria, which, among other things, aims to improve reliable energy access to fully realize the environmental, social, and economic potential of renewable energy.
