Eight Nigerian companies have been selected to benefit from a $1.5 million clean energy financing programme aimed at expanding access to solar-powered equipment for entrepreneurs and small businesses across Africa.
The funding, awarded under the Productive Use Financing Facility (PUFF), was announced by global non-profit organisation CLASP during the Adaptation Investment Summit 2026 held in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to CLASP’s Senior Director for Africa, Emmanuel Aziebor, the programme will support the deployment of about 3,800 productive-use appliances and is expected to generate more than 3,000 green jobs across participating countries.
The initiative, managed by CLASP with support from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), is designed to lower the upfront cost of acquiring solar-powered equipment, making the technologies more affordable for farmers, entrepreneurs and small businesses.
The selected beneficiaries include eight companies from Nigeria, six from Kenya and five from Ethiopia. They will receive support to expand access to solar-powered technologies such as water pumps, refrigeration units, grain milling machines and other productive appliances that help businesses reduce operating costs while improving efficiency.
Aziebor said improving electricity access alone would not be enough to drive Africa’s economic transformation, stressing that greater attention should be given to enabling businesses to use clean energy to increase productivity, create jobs and boost incomes.
He noted that although productive-use appliances have significant potential to transform livelihoods, they currently serve only a small fraction of the available African market. Expanding access to the technologies, he said, could generate close to $16 billion in annual income and create about 50 million jobs across the continent over the next decade.
GEAPP’s Vice-President for Africa, Carol Koech, said access to affordable financing remains critical to increasing the adoption of renewable energy technologies among African businesses. She added that the partnership combines finance, technology and supportive policies to help entrepreneurs grow while advancing Africa’s clean energy transition.
Also speaking, CLASP Senior Manager William Mulehi said the second phase of the funding programme is intended to help businesses overcome investment barriers, reach more customers and expand into additional markets.
He added that the programme’s first funding round, implemented between 2022 and 2024, disbursed $2.7 million, enabling the distribution of nearly 16,000 productive-use appliances and benefiting more than 53,000 people across Africa.
