Dear Readers,
On September 9, 2025, United Capital Infrastructure Fund (UCIF) announced the signing of a $3.2 million dollars (approximately N5 billion naira) revolving credit facility with Nigeria’s leading clean energy company, Husk Power Energy Systems Nigeria Limited (Husk Power) at the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) in Addis Ababa. This landmark transaction stands as the largest Naira-denominated debt financing to date in Nigeria’s solar mini-grid sector. Under this facility, Husk Power will be able to draw down on capital at least twice during the 10-year tenor, bringing the potential total to at least N10 billion naira ($6.4 million dollars). This funding is intentionally structured to build a standalone mini grid pipeline in Nigeria, with expansion plans to include Interconnected Mini Grids (IMGs) and commercial and industrial (C&I) solar projects.
Against this backdrop, Nigeria can be said to be witnessing a quiet, but profound solar revolution. From the President’s announcement of a N10 billion budget allocation for a solar-powered mini-grid project at the Presidential Villa in April 2025, to the completion of a 500KW solar mini-grid project in Ogun state developed by Darway Coast in partnership with other private partners in March 2025. Likewise, in August 2025, the Jigawa state government commissioned a 500KWp solar-hybrid mini-grid worth N1.2bn in Kafin Hausa Local Government Area. Together, these developments signal a gradual shift away from Nigeria’s monolithic dependence on the national grid.
The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has dramatically amplified this momentum by signing agreements with four key private sector developers for the deployment of isolated mini-grid projects across the country. The Managing Director of the REA, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, revealed that the agency is developing a funding pipeline of approximately US$1.6 billion aimed at accelerating clean-energy access across Nigeria. The fund is intended to support solar mini-grids, standalone systems, and other renewable-energy infrastructure targeting underserved communities. The Managing Director noted that the agency is working with key partners including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), expected to provide about US$200 million, and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), which has earmarked US$50 million in repatriated funds to mobilize private capital and scale the rollout.
The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) is also driving this transformation. Previously, distribution companies viewed solar mini grids as too risky to integrate; however, GEAPP has intervened with seed capital and hands-on technical expertise to absorb the initial risk and catalyse broader adoption. Building on this momentum, the World Bank has committed $127 million to scale the initiative, while an additional $50 million is being targeted toward productive-use technologies, such as irrigation pumps, cold-storage systems, and agro-processing tools, to boost rural productivity and strengthen Nigeria’s clean-energy value chain.
What began as a modest national push for decentralized electrification is now reshaping global clean-energy investment flows in the Nigeria solar grid sector. This ambition underscores a shift in Nigeria’s evolving capacity to attract climate finance and position its solar mini-grid sector as a replicable model for emerging markets by pioneering the use of large-scale, Naira-denominated debt financing to de-risk the sector for private capital, and blend funds from international development agencies.
The real test now is not whether Nigeria can attract capital, but whether it can translate this momentum into a coherent, scalable ecosystem that delivers measurable impact. Can the system evolve at the pace of opportunity, and can Nigeria truly emerge as a replicable model for energy transition across emerging economies?
