Nova-Lumos, an off-grid electricity provider, has been awarded a grant of £150,000 GBP from the SolarNigeria Programme (SNP), an initiative of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), implemented by Adam Smith International. The grant enables Nova-Lumos to accelerate its operations in northern Nigeria and increase power access to the 90 million Nigerians who currently live without connection to the electric grid.

The Nova-Lumos system provides the home with a solar panel linked to an indoor connections unit, allowing customers to access significant amounts of power on demand, day or night. With mobile payments, users transfer small amounts via SMS for the affordable, pay-as-you-go system. The Nova-Lumos model is highly scalable, in large part due to its partnership with MTN, Nigeria’s largest cellular provider, which enables the service to expand across all parts of Nigeria.

This SolarNigeria grant complements the recent $15m financing the company secured from the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. Government’s Development Finance Institution, which is being used to fund the deployment of over 75,000 systems across Nigeria in 2016. The Nova-Lumos finance constitutes the largest OPIC investment to the off-grid power sector in Africa.

“Millions of Nigerian households could today save money while enjoying bright light and clean power using solar instead of kerosene lanterns and small generators. So why do they not already use it? They need someone trustworthy to make quality solar products available to them in their village, and they need to be able to pay for it over time. This requires capable companies to invest in the market, to reach the customers, and to enable financing,” said Leigh Vial, head of consumer markets for SolarNigeria.

“We are grateful for the grant from SolarNigeria and excited about this relationship with DFID, which will enable us to accelerate our growth in northern Nigeria and improve millions of lives.” said David Vortman, CEO and Co-Founder at Nova-Lumos. “Backing from an institution such as DFID provides a vote of confidence in Nova-Lumos’s innovative technology and our unique business model,” he added. “We look forward to expanding our impact in Nigeria and elsewhere on the continent.”

•Photo shows solar panel.

Update news