The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) in collaboration with Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Africa50 has announced an innovative partnership for a $500 million DRE Nigeria Fund to develop and finance Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) projects in Nigeria.
The DRE Nigeria Fund aims 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.
The agreement was signed at the SEforALL Global Forum in Barbados.
According to a statement by NSIA, 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.
Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and SRSG for Sustainable Energy for All, said, “The launch of the DRE Nigeria Fund marks a pivotal moment in our 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 decentralized energy solutions, we are one step closer to achieving universal energy access across Nigeria”.
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.
In his remarks during the launch, Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq, MD and CEO, NSIA emphasized the fund’s strategic importance stating that, “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.”
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, “Mobilizing private investments and promoting catalytic finance through grants and equity is the key to a sustainable, energy-secure future for the Africa region which currently receives only 3% of global solar investments. We’ll begin with Nigerian homes and businesses and then take it to all countries of the continent.”
Also commenting on the announcement, Alain Ebobisse, Africa50 CEO, said in his remarks: “This 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 added.
“We look forward to welcoming additional partners to the platform in the near future”.
The Fund’s core value lies in mobilizing institutional capital and fostering partnerships with the Nigerian government and private sector to scale renewable energy investments.
