Barika and Kraft have successfully raised over 60 million US dollars in their third funding round to finance various Nigerian electricity interconnection projects. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and third largest economy with growing energy needs that the national grid cannot meet fully or reliably. To increase access to electricity and economic opportunity and decrease fossil fuel dependency and greenhouse gas emissions, Nigeria seeks to exploit untapped potential in solar power and energy efficiency. Barika and Kraft staked about $60m to fund renewable energy and efficient energy projects in the country. This fund, according to its promoters, would guarantee electricity supply to over 80 million Nigerians who are currently without power supply.
Barika and Kraft stated that they are committed to sponsoring projects that were innovative, technically eligible, energy efficient and renewable. In recent years finance for renewable energy projects has remained a challenge. Projects either tend to fail or face significant delays in development and construction due to burdensome and time-consuming negotiations and insufficient expertise. As renewable energy projects involve important capital expenditures, the cost of debt at the construction level also often has a disproportionate effect on their financial viability. Nigeria has developed a CTF (Clean Technology Fund) investment plan for an expected $250 million to contribute to national strategies for sustainable, low carbon development. Projects include bus-based urban transport improvements in the cities of Lagos, Kano, and Abuja, and a financing facility to catalyze private sector investment for renewable energy and energy efficiency across various industries. Aligned with The Nigeria Renewable Energy Programme (NREP), the initiative is expected create access to affordable sustainable energy in Nigeria by focusing on centralized energy solutions, including off-grid programmes and financing over 150+ MW of additional capacity.