- IFC and Stanbic IBTC Bank, a subsidiary of Standard Bank Group, have structured an $80 million local currency facility to enable off-grid customers to access affordable solar solutions through Sun King in Nigeria.
- IFC contributed $50 million.
Sun King, in partnership with IFC and Stanbic IBTC Bank, has secured an $80 million, fully Naira-denominated loan facility to scale access to off-grid solar energy in Nigeria. This financing enables households and small businesses to adopt clean, reliable solar power without prohibitive upfront costs.
Related news: Solar kit providers in Nigeria has have access to US$300 million from World Bank
By combining public and private capital, the facility allows Sun King to extend local currency loans through its pay-as-you-go model while mitigating foreign exchange risks. This approach enables customers to pay in small instalments, which improves affordability and capital efficiency, particularly for low-income and rural consumers.
Sun King, a leading off-grid solar provider, designs, distributes, and finances solar systems across over 40 countries. With a network of more than 29,500 agents across Africa, the company has sold over 27 million solar products. Sun King sells a range of cost-effective solar products, from solar home systems that offer multi-room lighting and phone charging to powerful rooftop solar systems that provide power equity with the grid.
Via flexible pay-as-you-go payment options, customers repay the cost of solar systems over 12 to 24 months through daily, weekly, or monthly instalments. Customers can pay as little as $0.21 a day via mobile money or cash. This model lowers the financial barrier to clean energy and broadens access among underserved communities. To date, Sun King has extended $1.2 billion in loans to its customers across Africa.
In Nigeria, where nearly 40% of the population lacks access to electricity, demand for affordable solar solutions is growing rapidly. The facility will support Sun King’s expansion in the country, especially in hard-to-reach communities.
IFC’s financing package includes a $25 million senior concessional loan from the Canada-IFC Africa Renewable Energy Program, which helps spur private sector financing for climate change solutions, especially innovative and early-stage projects in emerging markets.
In parallel, the Nigerian government and the World Bank are launching the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) program, which will help reduce costs for off-grid solar users through results-based subsidies — complementing this private-sector-led effort.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
