NSIA, SEforALL, Others Unveil $500 Million Distributed Energy Renewable Fund for Nigeria
•Organisations set to raise Africa’s 3% of global solar investments
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), as well as the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Africa50, have announced an innovative partnership for a $500 million renewable fund for Nigeria.
The Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) Nigeria fund is expected to help develop and finance distributed renewable projects in Nigeria. The NSIA, SEforALL and Africa50 signed the fund’s Heads of Terms (HoTs) agreement at the SEforALLglobal forum in Barbados.
Chief Executive of SEforAll, Damilola Ogunbiyi, said that the launch of the DRE Nigeria Fund marked a pivotal moment in the collective efforts to address Africa’s energy access challenges.
“This Fund will attract the long-term patient capital required to scale projects, especially from institutional investors. With the Fund’s targeted focus on scaling up decentralised energy solutions, we are one step closer to achieving universal energy access across Nigeria,” Ogunbiyi said.
The DRE Nigeria fund is the first country-focused DRE fund established under the DRE Africa platform which will develop and invest in distributed renewable projects across Africa, aligning with the Mission 300 goal to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
The aim of the DRE Nigeria Fund is to raise financing to offer tailored financial instruments and attract private sector capital while addressing critical challenges such as currency volatility, tariff structures, and the limited availability of local currency financing options.
Targeted investments will support mini-grids, solar home systems, Commercial and Industrial (C&I) power solutions, embedded generation projects, and innovative energy storage technologies.
This will ensure more reliable and cost-effective power access for Nigerian homes and businesses. A key objective of the Nigeria DRE Fund is to catalyze local currency funding from pension funds, insurance companies, and other local institutional investors.
The DRE Nigeria Fund, co-managed by Africa50 and NSIA, would serve as a model for other country-specific funds across the continent that are expected to be launched under the DRE Africa Platform.
Also In his remarks during the launch, Managing Director of NSIA, Mr. AminuUmar-Sadiq, emphasised the fund’s strategic importance.
“The DRE Africa platform represents another major step in our commitment to unlocking Africa’s renewable energy potential. With the DRE Nigeria Fund, we are creating a scalable model to attract global investments, drive industrial development, and enhance energy access for millions of Nigerians and Africans at large.
“This initiative underscores our belief that sustainable infrastructure is critical to economic transformation, and we are proud to collaborate with SEforALL, ISA, and Africa50 to turn this vision into reality,” Umar-Sadiq stated.
The DRE Nigeria Fund is expected to benefit from catalytic capital from the International Solar Alliance, through the recently announced Africa Solar Facility.
Sharing his congratulations on the announcement and expressing solidarity with the partners and the mission, Director General-elect of the International Solar Alliance, Mr. Ashish Khanna, said that mobilising private investments and promoting catalytic finance through grants and equity was the key to a sustainable, energy-secure future for Africa.
According to him, the region currently receives only 3 per cent of global solar investments. “We’ll begin with Nigerian homes and businesses and then take it to all countries of the continent,” he added.
Also commenting on the announcement, Africa50 CEO, Alain Ebobisse, said in his remarks, described it is a strong partnership with solid partners which can be a game-changer in accelerating investment in distributed renewable energy across Africa.
“ This innovative collaboration aims to unlock the right financing instruments to fund projects at scale and help solve the energy access gap in Africa, bringing power to millions of Africans, driving economic growth for businesses and communities across the continent,” he said.
He added: “We look forward to welcoming additional partners to the platform in the near future. The Fund’s core value lies in mobilising institutional capital and fostering partnerships with the Nigerian government and private sector to scale renewable energy investments.”
Africa50 is a pan-African infrastructure investor and asset manager that contributes to Africa’s growth by developing and investing in bankable projects and catalysingpublic sector capital, while SEforALL accelerates progress on the energy transition in emerging and developing countries.
In addition , the NSIA is an investment institution established by Nigeria to manage and invest in a diversified portfolio of medium and long-term funds, while ISA is a global initiative launched in 2015 by India and France at the COP21 in Paris, with 122-member and signatory countries.
