Finnish development financier Finnfund has signed a pioneering $5m long-term senior debt financing to Starsight Power Utility group in Nigeria.

Starsight offers solar-diesel-battery hybrid generation and efficient cooling and lighting solutions to commercial and industrial clients throughout Nigeria.

Starsight’s solution will cut the customer’s use of fossil fuels by up to 70% thanks to improved energy efficiency and the use of solar power.

“Nigeria regularly suffers from power outages and especially commercial and industrial companies are heavily dependent on diesel generators,” said Finnfund’s Investment Manager Eero Pekkanen.

“Starsight’s service offering is an innovative solution for the customers’ electricity needs as for a fixed monthly fee, the customers can cut their electricity costs and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels.”

The debt financing of Starsight is Finnfund’s first step into the energy market in Nigeria.

With the additional $10m of total funding from Finnfund and Norfund, Starsight will install its innovative solar power generation systems across a portfolio of several hundred commercial bank branches in Nigeria.

Starsight is backed by Helios Investment Partners and the African Infrastructure Investment Managers, the largest Africa-focused, private equity and infrastructure investment firms.

“We are pleased to partner with Finnfund and Norfund at the forefront of our bid to deliver improved energy reliability, cost savings and environmental benefits to Nigeria’s commercial and industrial power consumers,” said Damilola Agbaje, Director at Starsight and Investment Principal at African Infrastructure Investment Managers.

“Together, we are reimagining power provision to key employers in the Nigerian economy.”