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SunFunder, a solar finance company providing debt capital to solar enterprises in emerging markets, today, announced its first disbursement in Nigeria to Daystar Power, a renewable energy company that specializes in solar solutions. The disbursement is part of a facility of up to $4 million for the commercial and industrial (C&I) solar developer.

According to a joint statement by SunFunder and Daystar made available to Financial Nigeria, 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. From its headquarters in Nigeria and subsidiary office in Ghana, Daystar has installed and is maintaining over 150 systems across West Africa including Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Senegal.

On its part, SunFunder’s investment in up to 3MWp (Mega-Watt peak) 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.

“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,” said Rim Azirar, Investment Officer at SunFunder. “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.”

According to the statement, Daystar’s success combines a high value offering with cost minimisation through optimised solutions design combined with a professional maintenance programme. Daystar’s mission is to provide an African sustainable energy solution that results in a minimum 20 per cent reduction in energy costs and 50 per cent reduction in diesel consumption for end users.

Christian Wessels, co-founder and executive of Daystar Power, said: “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.”

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 offering end-users increased reliability as well as lower energy costs through solar and storage systems.

SunFunder and Daystar said they were also well aligned on gender parity. Both companies boast leadership teams comprising almost 50 per cent women. Furthermore, SunFunder was co-founded by a woman and the chief executive of Daystar in Ghana is the youngest Nigerian female 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.