.png)
Lagos, Nigeria – 8 September, 2025
British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, and Odyssey Energy Solutions, a technology company accelerating distributed energy in emerging markets, have launched a new financing facility to support the rollout out of electricity mini-grids for families and businesses across Nigeria.
With $7.5 million funding from BII, the facility leverages Odyssey’s proprietary procurement platform and supply chain credit solution to support mini-grid developers. The finance will be deployed to support Nigeria’s DARES program, backed by the World Bank, which aims to improve energy access for 17.5 million Nigerians.
Specifically, Odyssey works to bridge the gap between commitment and disbursement of DARES connections-based subsidies by addressing the financing bottleneck of upfront costs such as acquiring equipment and import duties.
Through this offering, developers can procure high-quality solar and energy storage equipment with minimal upfront capital, paying back as projects reach revenue-generating milestones.
This provides some key benefits for Nigerian solar companies including:
- Competitive pricing, through aggregated procurement
- Flexible payments, improving working capital
- Faster procurement cycles, accelerating deployment timelines
- End-to-end logistics support, from customs to last-mile delivery
- High-quality, vetted equipment, ensuring system reliability
This new facility comes at a critical time, as Nigeria ramps up its mini-grid ambitions under the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) program, backed by the World Bank. With DARES endeavoring to improve energy access for 17.5 million Nigerians, the demand for streamlined procurement and innovative financing is more urgent than ever.
The new facility has the potential of scaling up to meet the demand generated by the DARES program by partnering with a growing network of qualified developers and suppliers to accelerate project execution and reduce time to electrification.
Deputy High Commissioner (British Deputy High Commission Lagos) Jonny Baxter, said: “British International Investment (BII) has demonstrated its confidence in Nigeria's clean energy sector through its strategic investments. “This is a signal that opportunities for the private sector to drive forward the renewable energy revolution in Nigeria and across Africa are growing.
“UK finance is playing a pivotal role- helping to unlock green growth and establish Britain as a credible global partner on climate action in line with our Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP) with Nigeria.”
Benson Adenuga, West Africa Regional Director at BII, said: “About 90 million people in Nigeria do not have access to electricity. Mini-Grids powered by clean and affordable energy sources have a vital role to play in rapidly reducing that number. I am delighted that BII is partnering with Odyssey to accelerate the development of such projects.”
Odyssey Co-Founder and Managing Director, Piyush Mathur, said: “BII has demonstrated a progressive and practical approach to unlocking financing challenges in distributed energy. Their support allows us to offer flexible, affordable procurement and financing options that meet developers where they are, so that we can collectively accelerate electrification across Nigeria.”
With more than 3,000 installers and over $3 billion of available finance on the platform, procurement is the latest addition to Odyssey’s end-to-end platform, built to rapidly accelerate the clean energy transition in emerging markets. By integrating procurement, financing and monitoring into a single solution, Odyssey streamlines the solar project lifecycle—enabling companies to scale more quickly, operate efficiently, and deliver clean energy faster than ever before.
About Odyssey
Odyssey is on a mission to get more distributed solar built, faster. Odyssey connects solar developers, OEMs, financiers, and governments on a single platform that streamlines the entire project lifecycle—from procuring Tier-1 equipment with flexible payment terms to program delivery with embedded AI and real-time portfolio insights. Today, over 3,000 distributed-energy companies and vetted suppliers use Odyssey to buy, finance, and deliver systems across growth markets. Learn more on the Odyssey website or by following them on LinkedIn.
About British International Investment
British International Investment is the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. The organisation invests in businesses in developing countries to improve people’s lives and help protect the planet. BII’s work targets the underlying causes of poverty and the climate crisis, helping countries break free from aid dependency for good.
Between 2022-2026, at least 30 per cent of BII’s total new commitments by value will be in climate finance. BII is also a founding member of the 2X Challenge which has raised over $33.6 billion to empower women’s economic development. The company has investments in over 1,600 businesses across 66 countries and total net assets of £9.87 billion. For more information, visit: www.bii.co.uk | watch here. Follow British International Investment on LinkedIn, Bluesky and X.
.png)
