The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, the Sustainable Energy for All, the International Solar Alliance, and Africa50 have announced an innovative partnership for a $500m Distributed Renewable Energy Nigeria Fund to develop and finance renewable energy projects in Nigeria.

According to a statement made available to our correspondent, NSIA, SEforALL, and Africa50 recently signed the Fund’s Heads of Terms agreement at the SEforALL Global Forum in Barbados.

It was learnt that 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 statement explained that targeted investments will support mini-grids, solar home systems, commercial and industrial 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 catalyse local currency funding from pension funds, insurance companies, and other local institutional investors.

The Chief Executive Officer of Sustainable Energy for All, Damilola Ogunbiyi, said the launch of the DRE Nigeria Fund marked a pivotal moment in the 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 decentralised energy solutions, we are one step closer to achieving universal energy access across Nigeria,” Ogunbiyi was quoted.

In his remarks, the Managing Director of NSIA, Mr Aminu Umar-Sadiq, emphasised the fund’s strategic importance, saying, “The DRE Africa Platform represents another major step in our commitment to unlocking Africa’s renewable energy potential. 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.

The Director-General-Elect of the International Solar Alliance, Mr Ashish Khanna, said, “Mobilising private investments and promoting catalytic finance through grants and equity is the key to a sustainable, energy-secure future for the African region, which currently receives only three per cent 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, Africa50 CEO Alain Ebobisse remarked that 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 and driving economic growth for businesses and communities across the continent.