The International Finance Corporation, alongside the Canadian Government, has made a $5m investment in Husk Nigeria to scale up the deployment of solar hybrid mini grids and renewable energy to underserved communities in Northern Nigeria.

The investment deal was announced in a recent statement sent to our correspondent in Abuja.

The financing is intended to expand access to affordable, reliable, and renewable electricity in off-grid areas, which still constitutes one of Nigeria’s greatest development hurdles due to energy poverty.

It also marks the first investment under the IFC Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up Platform, a $200m debt facility approved in November 2024 to catalyse private sector solutions across West and Central Africa.

Recall that the DARES Platform complements the World Bank-financed Nigeria DARES Project, a $750m initiative launched in December 2023 and implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency.

Together, these efforts aim to provide over 17.5 million Nigerians with new or improved electricity access through decentralised renewable energy systems.

The statement noted that the IFC’s financing package will enable Husk to develop and operate up to 108 mini-grid sites, possibly connecting around 115,000 individuals and businesses with approximately 28,750 new electricity connections.

The statement read, “The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, with the support of the Government of Canada, has announced a $5m investment in Husk Power Energy Systems Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Husk Power Systems Inc., to expand access to reliable, renewable energy in underserved communities across Nigeria.

“The financing will support the rollout of Husk’s portfolio of solar hybrid mini grids in Northern Nigeria, helping address one of the country’s most urgent development challenges: access to electricity.