Written by Babajide Komolafe
The credit enhancement of First Electric Power and Automation Services Limited’s local currency loan issuance under a co-financing arrangement with the Climate Finance Blending Facility (CFBF) has been announced by InfraCredit, an infrastructure credit guarantee organization.
The deal is the Facility’s sixth overall and its first mesh-grid clean energy infrastructure project. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provided £10 million in concessional financing to start the CFBF, which was subsequently bolstered by a US$10 million investment from British International Investment (BII) and a US$20 million counter-guarantee facility.
Twenty mesh-grid power networks with a combined capacity of 724.8 kWp will be built and put into service in underprivileged areas in the states of Gombe, Nasarawa, and Ondo thanks to the funding. The project is anticipated to contribute to Nigeria’s universal electrification ambitions and Sustainable Development Goal 7 by electrifying around 5,156 households and small businesses, generating 616 employment, and avoiding an estimated 762 tonnes of carbon emissions yearly.
The deal expands on previous CFBF-backed initiatives that have deployed around ₦12 billion across five developers, reaching over 28,000 beneficiaries, generating over 2,900 jobs, and constructing nearly 1.8 MW of off-grid solar power. Additionally, the facility has made it possible for 23 developers to work on a project pipeline worth approximately ₦243.31 billion.
The investment, according to UK Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos Jonny Baxter, is a significant milestone that highlights the Facility’s role in providing creative, affordable power solutions for rural areas.
According to Chinua Azubike, CEO of InfraCredit, the transaction demonstrates the CFBF platform’s maturity in financing distributed renewable energy. He stated that about 36,000 homes and companies across the country should have access to electricity because to the Facility’s expanding portfolio.
According to Daniel Komolafe, CEO of First Electric, the initiative demonstrates the company’s dedication to providing economically feasible renewable energy solutions that have a positive social and economic impact.
The project is part of InfraCredit’s larger collaboration with the Rural Electrification Agency to provide off-grid power developers with long-term funding, and it is registered under the World Bank-sponsored DARES initiative.
