Nithio Holdings, Inc. (“Nithio”) is excited to announce the disbursement of its first debt facility to Winock Solar headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria. This financing agreement is the result of a partnership between Nithio and Solar Nigeria, a program funded by UK aid implemented by Adam Smith International that aims to accelerate access to solar power in Nigeria.
Nithio provides financing to off-grid solar energy companies through receivables purchases as well as corporate loans backed by receivables and inventory. Utilizing its proven credit scoring algorithms, Nithio is uniquely positioned to value off-grid solar companies’ portfolio risk and channel commercial and concessional financing at scale. Nithio targets a broad range of off-grid solar companies, with initial target markets including Nigeria, Kenya, and Uganda and aims to scale beyond in the next five years.
“The successful execution of our first loan agreement is an important milestone in Nithio’s role to provide financing to off-grid solar energy sector,” said Hela Cheikhrouhou, Nithio’s CEO. “As the off-grid solar companies further scale and expands into new markets, Nithio helps investors improve their performance by leveraging geospatial data and predictive analytics to better manage energy users’ credit risk. Nithio serves as a conduit that allows investors to provide scalable funding to the off-grid solar sector in Africa, blending concessional and commercial capital to achieve sustainable future growth of the industry.”
Nithio supports both multi-country and local off-grid solar energy companies, providing access to much needed growth capital.
“We are excited to partner with Nithio towards providing off-grid solar access to a market of 37 million Nigerian micro-businesses. Lack of access to clean and sustainable energy is the bane of environmental, social and economic sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa. The opportunity is apparent, but the poor availability of data and capital makes it difficult to achieve scale. Nithio’s predictive data analytics will help Winock Solar and its industry peers to organize their deep knowledge of consumer behavior and climatic conditions to develop insight that can be utilized by investors and project developers to solve lack of access to energy in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Sanmi Lajuwomi, CEO Winock Solar.
“This is an important initiative to support emerging solar providers in the Nigerian market. The Nithio- Winock collaboration is in line with Solar Nigeria’s goal of expanding the solar market and consequently improving access for under-served households,” Bodunde Onemola, Programme Manager Solar Nigeria.
About Nithio
Nithio provides household-level risk analytics to unlock scalable consumer financing in Africa. At the core of Nithio is its proven credit scoring approach that builds on top of the most comprehensive geospatial datasets on African households. Using this credit scoring approach, Nithio helps transform off-grid solar companies’ (and their investors’) understanding of their portfolio’s performance, risk, and potential. Nithio also uses its credit scoring approach to efficiently deploy debt capital at scale from commercial and concessional investors to the off-grid energy sector. The impact of Nithio’s platform will support access to clean, modern energy for millions of households across the African continent.
About Winock Solar
Winock Solar is a local company focused on improving energy access and reliability for micro-businesses in Nigeria, thus positively contributing to the growth of the economy and incomes of micro business owners. Winock Solar operates by combining a deep knowledge of consumer behavior and climatic conditions to deliver affordable Lease to own solar services to its customers. Winock Solar’s innovative business model and best-in-class technology is helping customers to switch from petrol generators to solar. Winock Solar’s mission is to make solar accessible, reliable and affordable to Nigerian micro-businesses for productive use.
About Solar Nigeria Programme
Solar Nigeria Programme (SNP) is funded by UK aid and is the largest solar programme in Nigeria. It aims to improve access to clean, affordable energy for poor communities and scale up the private markets for solar solutions. Since its inception in 2014, the Programme has electrified public health and educational institutions across 3 Nigerian estates and has accelerated the uptake of solar energy technology by private households and businesses nationwide.
Disclaimer: This program is supported with UK aid from the UK government provided through the Solar Nigeria Programme, which is implemented by Adam Smith International; however, the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the UK government, Adam Smith International, or the Solar Nigeria Programme.