GIFT ROBERTS
Chapel Hill Denham, Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund NIDF, has successfully announced the financial wrap-up for the construction of 22 mini-grids being developed by Havenhill Synergy Limited under the Nigeria Electrification Project as part of its strategic focus on energy access and clean energy for Nigerians.
NIDF will now provide Havenhill long-term financing worth $4.6m to partly finance the rollout of these mini-grids,that would connect 70,000 people along with other establishments in the host communities to clean reliable energy supply, based on this development.
The CEO of NIDF, Anshul Rai, while speaking on the completion of the groundbreaking deal said it was exciting to see that NIDF is playing a significant role to brush-up energy access in Nigeria.
“NIDF prides itself in being the leader in financing of clean energy and energy access projects in Nigeria and thus contribute to the achievement of UN’s sustainable Development Goals. In multiple projects such as Havenhill, our unitholders can see their capital in action and generating not only financial returns but also making a strong, positive impact on the daily lives of their fellow citizens,” he said.
The NIDF boss also said that African Development Bank will support NIDF to enable it implement a comprehensive Environmental and social management system.
“With the support of AfDB, NIDF is also implementing a comprehensive Environmental & Social Management System for the fund and also supporting its borrowers to adopt the international best practices in the area of environmental and social sustainability,” he added.
The CEO of Havenhill, Olusegun Odunaiya, also expressed his excitement to have NIDF as a long-term partner for the mini-grids roll out project, he said the NIDF commercial savviness team has enabled it to implement a highly innovative financing structure that fully addresses the peculiarities of the project and, therefore, ensure its long-term success.
“This milestone serves as a renewal of Havenhill’s commitment to powering Nigeria’s most remote communities and delivering last-mile electricity connections. These mini-grids will catalyse economic activities in host communities, serve healthcare facilities, and overall deliver a transformative multiplier effect. I appreciate the efforts and grit of our team in solving one of the most important problems in the world today,” he added.