BII backs Okra with $7m to accelerate clean energy

British International Investment (BII) has provided a $7 million debt facility to Okra, a company offering mesh-grid technology for off-grid communities. This investment aims to expedite the delivery of reliable, clean electricity in Nigeria, a country with one of the world's most significant electricity access gaps. An estimated 90 million people in Nigeria lack reliable and affordable power.

BII's financing will facilitate the procurement of equipment for approximately 150,000 new connections, potentially bringing electricity to 750,000 people in rural Nigeria for the first time. The current installed base of Okra stands at over 13,000 households and 2.3MW of capacity, indicating that the facility will enable the company to achieve more than 10 times its current connections.

BII's investment addresses a major hurdle in scaling distributed renewable energy: access to flexible working capital for equipment procurement. By enabling Okra to purchase manufacturing inputs upfront and in larger volumes, the facility will help reduce equipment costs and expedite delivery times from four months to roughly two months.

British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Jonny Baxter, emphasized the importance of reliable electricity in economic growth, job creation, and improved livelihoods. He highlighted that millions of Nigerians still lack access to dependable power and how BII's investment supports innovative Nigerian solutions to close this gap. Not only does this investment expand access to power, but it also promotes clean power, which can drive inclusive economic growth and reduce pollution.

Geoffrey Manley, the Director and Head of Infrastructure & Climate Debt, Africa and South Asia at BII, stated that for energy companies like Okra, access to the right type of finance is just as crucial as the technology itself. The flexible facility will allow Okra to procure critical components earlier and in greater volumes, reducing costs and shortening delivery times.

The investment aligns with Nigeria's efforts to expand distributed renewable energy through initiatives such as the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up program, supported by the Rural Electrification Agency and the World Bank. Mesh-grids are eligible for financing under this program, which provides results-based financing to support new electricity connections.

Faster equipment delivery will also benefit Okra's developer customers by enabling them to bring projects online sooner and access results-based grant payments. Okra's CEO, Afnan Hannan, noted that every delayed project means another month without power for a community. With BII's facility, Okra can now procure long-lead time components upfront and in volume, reducing costs and having stock ready when a developer signs.

The lighting will be turned on sooner due to equipment reaching Nigeria in less than one-third of the previous time.