By Dipo Olowookere
A solar finance company, SunFunder, has promised to make up to $4 million available to a commercial and industrial (C&I) solar developer, Daystar Power.
This is the first disbursement SunFunder, a firm providing debt capital to solar enterprises in emerging markets, is making in Nigeria.
According to the Investment Officer at SunFunder, Mr Rim Azirar, “We are delighted to support Daystar’s growth with a project finance-like structure that can support the company’s strategy for rapid buildout in Nigeria, through their highly scalable business model.”
“The Daystar team offers its clients power solutions tailored to their operations and is impressively scaling the company’s reach by standardising deployment, both important factors in the emerging and often fragmented C&I solar sector in Africa,” he added.
Co-founder and executive of Daystar Power, Mr Christian Wessels, while commenting on the funding package, stated that, “We are happy to partner with SunFunder in our mission to bring clean, continuous and affordable power to West African businesses in support of their growth and environmental goals. The support of SunFunder enables the beginning of a new phase of accelerated growth for our company.”
Daystar Power specialises in providing solar power and energy efficiency solutions for businesses in the commercial, industrial, and agricultural sectors that result in significant reduction of power costs, diesel consumption and pollution.
SunFunder’s investment in up to 3MWp of C&I projects for clients including top tier financial institutions and other small and medium-sized enterprises will mitigate 102,410 tons of CO2 emissions annually.
The company’s success combines a high value offering with cost minimisation through optimised solutions design combined with a professional maintenance program.
Daystar’s mission is to provide an African sustainable energy solution that results in a minimum 20 percent reduction in energy costs and 50 percent reduction in diesel consumption for end users.
According to a recent study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Nigeria has the largest potential for C&I solar in Africa because of the scale of the opportunity for diesel replacement. Daystar is a pioneer in the market, offering end-users increased reliability as well as lower energy costs through solar and storage systems.
SunFunder and Daystar are also well aligned on gender parity. Both companies boast leadership teams comprising almost 50 percent women.
Furthermore, SunFunder was co-founded by a woman and the chief executive of Daystar in Ghana is the youngest female Nigerian CEO in West Africa’s renewable energy sector. Daystar actively hires female engineers and managers and seeks to create an environment where women can drive development in Africa.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka