BII commits $7M to Okra Solar to scale mesh-grids in Nigeria
What's the deal? British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution, has committed a $7 million debt facility to Okra SolarDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an Australian-founded provider of mesh-grid technology. The financing, announced at the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum in Kigali, targets clean electricity access in Nigeria.
What's the endgame? The facility is structured as working capital, letting Okra buy solar panels, batteries, and long-lead-time components upfront and in volume. It aims to fund roughly 150,000 new connections, with potential to reach 750,000 people in rural Nigeria.
Why now? Okra previously ordered components only after a transaction closed, in batches of a few thousand units, slowing deployment. "Every month a project is delayed is another month a community goes without power," said Afnan Hannan, Okra's chief executive officer.
What does Okra do? Its mesh-grids connect households and businesses with low-voltage DC cables and smart controllers, letting neighbouring units share surplus power without a central generation house. Okra says this can cut distribution costs by up to 90% versus conventional mini-grids. Its installed base stands at more than 13,000 households and over 2.3MW of capacity; the facility aims to grow connections more than tenfold.
Why it matters: Nigeria has one of the world's largest electricity access deficits, with an estimated 90 million people lacking reliable, affordable power. Conventional mini-grids are costly in small, dispersed communities, while solar home systems often cannot support productive uses such as milling or irrigation.
The signal: The round reflects growing institutional backing for mesh-grids in Nigeria's off-grid market, where blended-finance deals are channelling capital to developers. "We believe this will help demonstrate the commercial viability of mesh-grids," said Geoffrey Manley, BII's director and head of infrastructure and climate debt for Africa and South Asia. Delivery at the announced scale, though, will depend on execution and continued access to project finance.
Read more: launchbaseafrica.com
Image credit: Okra Solar
