Husk and UCIF Partner to Scale Solar Minigrids in Nigeria

United Capital Infrastructure Fund (UCIF) has announced the signing of a ₦5 billion (approximately USD 3.2 million) revolving, local currency debt facility with Husk. The revolving facility is the first Naira-denominated debt instrument of its kind and marks a significant step forward in accelerating Nigeria’s efforts to scale the community solar minigrid industry.

The revolving loan has a tenure of 10 years, during which Husk expects to redeploy the capital twice. Initial deployments will be used to build out Husk’s stand-alone minigrid pipeline in Nigeria, with expansion plans to include inter-connected minigrids, and Commercial and Industrial (C&I) solar projects.

Speaking on this transaction, Uchenna Mkparu, Chief Investment Officer and Fund Manager, United Capital Infrastructure Fund, said, “UCIF is excited to announce its maiden investment in the renewable energy sector. This transaction underscores our commitment to advance Nigeria’s renewable energy sector and expanding access to clean and reliable power. By providing affordable, long-term local currency debt to a market leader like Husk, UCIF is creating impact by enabling scalable, sustainable energy access for households, SMEs, smallholder farmers and under-served communities across Nigeria. It is our goal to replicate this novel facility structure to deliver up to 100MW of clean power by 2030.”

Announced on the sidelines of the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) in Addis Ababa, the facility was jointly developed by the two institutions to address a market gap, affecting the delivery and scaling of solar minigrids. Husk is the first minigrid developer in Nigeria to access this novel local currency facility from UCIF. For UCIF, this transaction reflects its broader mandate to channel long-term local currency financing into projects that expand clean energy access and accelerate sustainable development across Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Manoj Sinha, CEO and Co-Founder, Husk, said, “Access to affordable, long-term, Naira-denominated capital has long been a critical bottleneck to scale private-sector minigrids in Nigeria. This facility marks a new era for the industry and provides strong momentum for Husk’s Africa Sunshot initiative, under which we aim to build, own and operate 1,000 minigrids in Nigeria.”