Nigeria’s renewable energy start-ups receive development grants to upscale

Seven Nigerian renewable energy start-ups from across the country have each been awarded development grants for excelling in innovation and to speed up the process of scaling up their businesses.

Each start-up has received $10, 000. The start-ups have developed innovative products spanning a variety of renewable energy services from mobile solar-powered charging systems; battery operated solar generators, waste to gas technologies, and a patented solar inverter system.

The awards came at the end of the Clean Technology Incubation and Acceleration Foundation (CTIAF) incubation programme sponsored by Shell-funded impact investing firm, All On. The training programme, run in partnership with Clintonel Centre (Aba) and Start Innovation Hub (Uyo), sought to identify promising off-grid energy start-ups in other emerging centres of technology innovation in Nigeria. The program has helped the entrepreneurs to upskill significantly and the grant winners are expected to use the $10,000 to refine their product concepts, build out prototypes, recruit staff, and pilot solutions.

“We are particularly proud of our continued collaboration with All On, this time in supporting the upscaling of young, Nigerian entrepreneurs who are the future of the sector,” Ify Malo, co-founder, and executive director, CTIAF.

The final seven were selected from 13 businesses that went through the entire incubation process selected from 107 businesses that applied in May 2020 and were taken through a variety of courses aimed at developing their knowledge and skillsets in the areas of strategy and planning, product development, regulatory environment, finance, and capital raising. The objective of the CTIAF programme is to incubate energy entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and enable them to move from the ideation phase to the concept phase.

“It’s been exciting to be part of this process and particularly to see that over half of the participants included in the incubation programme were women-led ventures,” said Sele Inegbedion, All On Hub Manager. “This is a deliberate part of All On’s strategy to ensure gender inclusiveness in the growing Nigerian renewable energy sector.”

The All On Hub, which is funded and supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, oversaw the coordination of the training events, which were offered virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are proud to again see the All On Hub’s success in identifying, developing, and championing innovative sustainable off-grid energy businesses in Nigeria,” said Caroline Eboumbou, director of The Rockefeller Foundation’s Power & Climate initiative. “The seven companies receiving the grant are all examples of excellence in their field. These are the kinds of innovators that will change the trajectory of energy access for underserved and energy-poor communities in Nigeria – and I for one am excited to see how they will develop as they move forward and bring their visions to life.”