Sun King, a prominent solar energy company, has secured a landmark ₦80 million loan (approximately $80 million) to expand its electrification projects across Nigeria. The funding, jointly arranged by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Stanbic IBTC Bank, marks the largest local-currency energy access loan in West Africa to date, the company announced on Thursday.
According to Krishna Swaroop, Sun King’s Chief Financial Officer, the newly acquired funds will support the extension of electricity access to up to four million Nigerian households over the next four to five years. This would significantly add to the two million homes the company has already reached with its solar power solutions.
In a strategic move aligning financial and local development goals, the loan has been denominated in naira. Sun King’s co-founder, Anish Thakkar, emphasised the importance of this approach. “What’s really exciting about this is that it’s a local-currency facility. It eliminates foreign-exchange risk and allows us to offer more affordable financing to our customers,” he said.
Sun King, formerly known as Greenlight Planet, provides solar kits that include panels and rechargeable batteries. These are typically paid for through daily instalments of about $0.21 (around ₦320), with most users completing their payments within a year. The kits are designed to last up to ten years.
This loan is closely aligned with the Mission 300 initiative spearheaded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank, which aims to connect 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030. The initiative expects to draw tens of billions of dollars in both public and private investment to transform the region’s energy infrastructure. It was a focal point of discussions at a World Bank-hosted conference in Tanzania earlier this year.
Sun King is no stranger to large-scale energy investments. In 2021, the company closed a $75 million deal in Kenya, also aimed at expanding off-grid access to power.
Nigeria continues to be a central focus for global electrification efforts. With approximately 90 million Nigerians currently lacking access to electricity, the World Bank has intensified its support for renewable energy solutions in the country. In December 2023, it facilitated a $750 million loan aimed at enhancing off-grid power and renewable energy projects. That initiative is expected to mobilise over $1 billion in private investment and provide electricity to an additional 17.5 million people.
The World Bank is also actively supporting projects like Nigeria’s Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES), underscoring its long-term commitment to bridging the country’s energy gap.