Economy
Daystar Power Partners Trine to Light up West Africa With Solar
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
One of the major challenges faced by West Africa countries is electricity. For year, Nigeria, which is the region’s largest economy, has been unable to provide electricity to its citizens despite having resources to do so.
One company that has taken it upon itself to solve the problem is Daystar Power, a leading solar energy firm in West Africa.
The company recently partnered with a Swedish investment platform known as Trine to finance solar power systems in West Africa.
The partnership opens up investments in Daystar Power’s solar power installations, previously limited to large-scale investors, to the wider public.
Daystar Power and Trine initiated their partnership by opening a round of debt investments for a total of €500,000 for Daystar Power’s latest captive power installations for commercial customers in Togo and Senegal. This financing round allows individuals and companies to invest in Daystar Power’s projects with a minimum investment amount of €25.
Traditionally, investments in solar power plants in Africa have been reserved for large institutional investors.
Trine and Daystar Power are changing this, by enabling individuals and companies to participate in financing the expansion of solar power. The current financing round will help Daystar Power expand its footprint of installations from Ghana and Nigeria to Togo and Senegal.
Commenting on the development, Executive Chairman of Daystar Power, Christian Wessels, stated that, “We are excited about our partnership with Trine, as it will allow a new class of investors to invest in our solar power plants in West Africa. In Trine we have found a partner who is as passionate about impact investing and solar power as we are.”
Christoffer Falsen, CFO and co-founder of Trine: “We are happy that with Daystar Power, we have found our first partner company which is active in the commercial and industrial space of solar power. We are confident that through our loans, Daystar Power will be able to make significant contributions to protecting the environment and fostering local job creation.”
Daystar Power is a pan-African electricity company specializing in the generation of solar energy, with a focus on medium and small-scale solar systems (20kWp to 5 MWp). The plants are either sold or made available to customers in a service fee model.
The user benefits from cost savings against payment of a monthly fee, from ensuring a stable power supply, emission-free energy production and the efficient energy management. Unlike many other international solar companies, Daystar Power has established local technical units that provide a high level of service.
Sunray Ventures is an African Venture Builder with locations in Lagos, Frankfurt and Dubai. Sunray Ventures is focusing on building and scaling high-growth companies which generate profit, whilst creating environmental and socio-economic impact in their respective industries. Sunray Ventures and their owners Christian Wessels and Jasper Graf von Hardenberg have founded Daystar Power in 2017.
Trine makes it easy for people to invest in solar energy where it has the most impact. Innovative companies get the injection of capital they need to create a greener future. Trine investors get a triple return on investment – earn a profit while making social and environmental impact.
Trine investors have injected €19 million into 27 different companies, resulting in an estimated impact of 400,000 people gaining access to electricity with 31,000 tons of CO2 emissions avoided. Investors have been repaid €2.8 million to date.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Shareholders of Unilever Nigeria Plc will receive an interim dividend of N2 per share, the board of the organisation has said.
The cash reward was announced after the company released its financial statements for the first half of the year ended June 30, 2026.
The payment will be made on Friday, August 14, 2026, only to investors whose names appear on the Register of Members at the close of business on Friday, July 31, 2026.
A quick look at the financial performance of the firm in the first six months of this year showed that revenue improved by 22.22 per cent to N119.9 billion from the N98.1 billion achieved in the corresponding period of last year.
A rise in earnings also resulted in a 16.43 per cent surge in cost of sales, though this did not shrink the gross profit, which rose by 29.93 per cent to N54.7 billion from N42.1 billion. The operating profit stood at N24.4 billion in the period under review, higher than N18.8 billion in the same period of 2025, while the net finance income contracted by 9.43 per cent to N4.8 billion from N5.3 billion due to elevated borrowing costs.
Business Post reports that despite higher taxes paid in the first six months of 2026, the net profit grew by 8.33 per cent to N15.6 billion from N14.4 billion, enabling the board to pass on value to shareholders for their faith in the firm.
