Okra Solar secures $3.4m solar grid facility for 76,000 beneficiaries

By Innocent Obasi

Okra Solar, an Australian tech startup, has secured a $3.4 million working capital facility under the ElectriFI Country Window from the European Union(EU)  to use solar mesh-grids to target 76,000 energy access beneficiaries across Nigeria and other developing countries  by the end of 2025.

The initiative was inaugurated in 2016, with Okra Solar developing the mesh-grid technology primarily to electrify underserved or unserved communities. The tech company also said it will provide access to electricity through mesh-grid technology to mini-grid developers.

The company has commenced concentrating on the highly strategic Nigerian market and planned to roll out several pilot projects to energise more than 30,000 households in the country over the next two to three years.

“Even with off-grid solutions like mesh-grids being 10 times cheaper than grid extension for hard-to-reach communities, 80 million people continue to live off-grid in Nigeria. Okra is incredibly excited to work with EDFI ElectriFI to deploy innovative financial tools that will enable local developers to deploy mesh-grids at scale and continue rapidly bringing power to the people,” Afnan Hannan, co-founder and CEO, Okra Solar said.

The investment made by EDFI ElectriFI consists of a revolving working capital facility that is aimed 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.

“We are proud to contribute to facilitating and accelerating the development of micro- and mini-grids for rural electrification across Nigeria. Given the various awards received by Okra, we are confident that the highly skilled Okra Team will thrive within this complex industry,”  Maud Watelet , ElectriFI senior investment officer at EDFI MC said.