InfraCredit, a ‘AAA’ rated specialist infrastructure credit guarantee institution, has announced credit enhancement of CEESOLAR Energy Limited’s local currency debt issuance under a co-financing agreement with the Climate Finance Blending Facility (CFBF).
This is the fifth transaction under this facility. The deal was seeded with £10m of concessional capital from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO), which was subsequently strengthened by a US$10m investment from BII, together with a US$20m counter-guarantee facility.
The transaction will fund the construction and commissioning of four standalone solar hybrid mini-grids with a total capacity of 760kWp in underserved communities across Cross River State. Once operational, the project will electrify approximately 3,600 households and small businesses, create nearly 561 jobs and avoid more than 737 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually, advancing Nigeria’s universal electrification goal and contributing directly to Sustainable Development Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy).
The transaction builds on the success of earlier projects supported through the facility, which have so far deployed approximately N9 billion to four developers (Darway, Hotspot, ACOB and Prado), collectively reaching over 25,000 beneficiaries, creating over 2,300 jobs and installing approximately 1.7MW of off-grid solar power generation capacity. The CFBF currently enables a pipeline of approximately NOK 243.31 billion projects with 23 developers seeking financing, demonstrating a catalytic role in mobilizing private capital for climate-smart infrastructure and expanding decentralized renewable energy (DRE) access nationwide.
Importantly, the transaction was further supported by InfraCredit’s Construction Finance and Warehousing Facility (CFWF). This is a bridging financing vehicle funded by the Nigerian Government Investment Authority (NSIA) that allows developers to access short-term construction liquidity in advance of long-term refinancing with Infrastructure Credit Guaranteed Bonds. The synergy between the NSIA-funded CFWF and the FCDO-funded CFBF underscores InfraCredit’s integrated approach to closing the financing gap for sustainable infrastructure projects across Nigeria.
Managed by InfraCredit, the CFBF leverages InfraCredit’s ‘AAA’ rating guarantee, as well as subordinated first-loss capital from the FCDO and technical assistance from FSD Africa, to de-risk distributed renewable energy (DRE) projects across Nigeria and mobilize domestic institutional capital from pension funds and insurance companies.
The transaction also reflects a strategic partnership between InfraCredit and the African Mini-Grid Developers Association (AMDA), aimed at providing AMDA member developers with access to long-term domestic capital. CEESOLAR, an active member of AMDA, is one of the African-owned mini-grid companies that will benefit from this partnership, which aims to close the financing gap for mini-grid and distributed renewable energy (DRE) projects through innovative blended finance and credit enhancement structures.
Johnny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, said:
“We are delighted that the UK-funded Climate Finance Blending Facility, managed by Infrastructure Credit, continues to facilitate local currency debt for renewable energy infrastructure. The CFBF model for financing decentralized renewable energy remains central to achieving Nigeria’s energy transition and net-zero ambitions, and the UK is proud to support innovative financing that drives climate-resilient growth.”
InfraCredit Chief Executive Officer Chinua Azbaik said:
“We are proud to support CEESOLAR and join other indigenous distributed renewable energy developers who have enabled access to long-term, affordable local currency financing. This transaction demonstrates the power of a partnership that combines catalytic first-loss capital from the FCDO, bridge financing from NSIA through a construction finance warehouse facility, and infrastructure credit guarantees to enable private investment in climate-resilient infrastructure.”
Chibueze Ekeh, Chief Executive Officer of CEESOLAR Energy Limited said:
“This milestone reflects CEESOLAR’s commitment to closing Nigeria’s energy gap through innovation and collaboration. With InfraCredit’s support, we are proving that clean energy solutions are impactful, commercially viable and sustainable. Every community we electrify increases productivity, supports women and small businesses, improves health care delivery, gives children opportunities to educate, and is a step towards building a future where energy access impacts lives.”
Mr. Olamide Nii Afue, Chief Executive Officer of AMDA, said:
“This milestone underscores our growing confidence in the ability of AMDA members to scale and the power of local capital to drive sustainable energy access across the continent.”
The project is enrolled in the World Bank’s Decentralized Access through Renewable Energy Scaling-up (DARES) performance-based grant program, managed by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). REA (https://rea.gov.ng/) is a government agency that promotes, coordinates and delivers rural electrification across Nigeria.
InfraCredit signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with REA in August 2022 to enable credit enhancement and financing to private sector mini-grid developers, eliminating long-term financing bottlenecks for off-grid operators in the energy sector and enabling adequate generation and supply to underserved and underserved areas.
The costs of technical, legal, environmental and social due diligence were supported by funding provided by FSD Africa under a technical assistance agreement with InfraCredit to support the costs of first issuers of eligible projects that can issue climate-smart local currency infrastructure debt.
About infrastructure credits
InfraCredit (www.infracredit.ng) was established in 2017 as the first ‘AAA’ (NG) rated local currency specialized infrastructure credit institution established to support long-term local currency infrastructure financing in Nigeria. InfraCredit’s guarantees enhance the credit quality of local currency debt instruments issued to finance eligible infrastructure-related assets.
Its guarantees act as a catalyst to attract domestic long-term institutional capital from pension funds, insurance companies and other investors, thereby deepening Nigeria’s debt capital market. InfraCredit’s investors include the Nigerian Investment Authority, the UK Foreign Office (via PIDG and MOBILIST), the KfW Development Bank, the African Finance Corporation, and the African Development Bank, as well as domestic pension funds and insurance companies.
As of April 2025, InfraCredit is listed as a public company and admitted to trading on the NASD. We maintain the highest domestic financial strength ratings given to any financial institution by Agust & Company, Global Credit Ratings, and international rating agency Fitch Ratings.
About Sea Solar
CEESOLAR Energy Limited is a renewable energy company focused on providing energy access across Nigeria through renewable distributed energy systems. The company began operations in 2017 and has installed a total capacity of 729.5kWp consisting of mini-grid installations and stand-alone solar power for households and businesses, and established over 695 connections across Imo, Abia, Lagos, Cross River, Enugu, Bayelsa State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
About CFBF
The Climate Finance Blending Facility is a catalytic facility capitalized by US$21.3 million in concessional funding from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (“FCDO”) and British International Investment (“BIl”), which will mobilize additional funding from development partners to co-finance off-grid clean energy investments alongside local currency guarantees for infrastructure credits in Nigeria.
