BII Provides USD 7 Million to Okra

British International Investment is providing a USD 7 million financing package for Okra to purchase and stock equipment needed to support the rollout of approximately 150,000 new electricity connections in rural Nigeria.

The financing is structured to underwrite upfront procurement so Okra can scale distribution; those connections have the potential to bring first-time access to power for as many as 750,000 people. Okra currently serves more than 13,000 households and operates over 2.3 MW of installed capacity, and the company expects the funding to expand customer connections by more than ten times its present scale.

Okra deploys mesh-grid technology that combines solar generation, battery storage, and intelligent control systems to link neighboring households and businesses through interconnected networks. The company positions the approach as offering greater power capacity than typical solar home systems while lowering the infrastructure cost and complexity associated with conventional mini-grids in small, geographically dispersed communities.

BIIs capital will allow Okra to place larger, earlier orders for long-lead components including batteries and solar equipment, which should reduce per-unit procurement costs and shorten supply-chain lead times. Afnan Hannan, Chief Executive Officer of Okra, said equipment can now reach Nigeria in less than a third of the previous timeframe, a change the company expects to speed deployment and reduce delivery risk for developers.

Geoffrey Manley, Director and Head of Infrastructure and Climate Debt for Africa and South Asia at BII, said the availability of flexible financing is critical for companies adopting new distributed generation models and that the facility could help demonstrate the commercial viability of mesh-grid approaches within Africas distributed renewables market.