- The financing will support the deployment of Okra Solar mesh-grids across underserved communities in Nigeria and enable the construction and commissioning of 20 mesh-grids across Gombe, Nasarawa, and Ondo States.
- The project is the first mesh-grid clean energy infrastructure project funded under the Climate Finance Blending Facility and represents the facility’s sixth transaction to date.
InfraCredit has enhanced local-currency debt financing for First Electric under the UK-funded Climate Finance Blending Facility (CFBF), marking a significant milestone for First Electric and Nigeria’s distributed energy ecosystem. First Electric disclosed this on its official LinkedIn page.
The financing will support the deployment of Okra Solar mesh-grids across underserved communities in Nigeria and enable the construction and commissioning of 20 mesh-grids across Gombe, Nasarawa, and Ondo States. The project will provide clean, reliable electricity to approximately 5,156 households and small businesses, create 616 jobs, and avoid an estimated 762 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually.
The initiative directly supports Nigeria’s universal electrification ambitions and climate commitments. Notably, it is the first mesh-grid clean energy infrastructure project funded under the Climate Finance Blending Facility and represents the facility’s sixth transaction to date.
The project is supported by InfraCredit’s Construction Finance Warehouse Facility, funded by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), alongside concessional first-loss capital from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and technical assistance from FSD Africa. Together, these instruments are designed to strengthen the pathway for distributed renewable energy projects to reach financial close and scale within Nigeria’s domestic capital markets.
The transaction, delivered through collaboration with InfraCredit and its leadership team, reflects a high level of professionalism and technical rigour throughout the process. The Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria provided additional grant support through the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up Programme, funded by the World Bank.
The milestone highlights First Electric’s leadership and execution capacity in delivering a first-of-its-kind, locally financed mesh-grid project. It demonstrates the importance of sustained commitment, strong partnerships, and operational excellence in scaling innovative clean energy solutions.
The Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA) also provided support, underscoring continued collaboration to advance distributed renewable energy development across the continent. First Electric is an active member of the AMDA, reflecting InfraCredit’s strategic partnership with the association to expand access to long-term local-currency financing and strengthen the pipeline of investment-ready distributed renewable energy projects.
The project reinforces growing momentum to scale clean energy access in Nigeria, advancing impact one community at a time.