All On Pours ₦2 Billion Into Salpha Energy’s Off-Grid Push

• Shell-backed investor All On commits ₦2 billion to expand Salpha Energy’s female-led solar assembly plant and reach thousands of off-grid Nigerian households and businesses.

Impact investor All On has agreed a ₦2 billion (USD 1.26 million) equity-and-debt package for Salpha Energy, marking one of the largest local-currency raises this year for Nigeria’s off-grid solar sector. The deal gives Salpha fresh capital to scale manufacturing, widen product lines and deepen its distribution network across rural and peri-urban markets.

Founded in 2017, Salpha runs the only female-led solar-home-system assembly plant in sub-Saharan Africa, a 20,000-unit-a-year facility on the outskirts of Lagos. The company delivers plug-and-play kits ranging from 150 W to mini-grid-ready 100 kW solutions, bundled with smart inverters and pay-as-you-go software. Management says the new funding will treble annual output, cut unit costs by 18 % and open five regional service hubs, creating up to 200 skilled jobs over the next 24 months.

“All On’s local-currency financing tackles the mismatch that has hampered domestic clean-tech firms for years,” chief executive Caroline Eboumbou noted at the signing. “Backing a Nigerian-owned, female-led manufacturer squarely aligns with our goal of building an inclusive energy ecosystem.” For Salpha founder Sandra Chukwudozie, the partnership provides both capital and credibility: “We can now reach another 100,000 households and small enterprises who still rely on diesel or kerosene.”

Nigeria’s off-grid opportunity is vast. Roughly 45 % of the population remains unconnected to the national grid, while many connected users endure blackouts exceeding 30 hours a week. Solar-home systems and micro-grids are filling the gap, yet developers struggle to access affordable naira financing. All On – seeded in 2016 by Shell but operated independently – has deployed over USD 30 million into 50 renewable start-ups, blending concessional capital with technical support.

Proceeds from the latest round will allow Salpha to double its pay-as-you-go inventory, pilot a 500-site solar-for-health-care programme and launch an agro-solar package pairing irrigation pumps with cold-storage units. First disbursement is due in June; the company expects to be cash-flow positive by Q4 2026, buoyed by rising demand and newly approved import-duty waivers on solar components.

With grid-deficit costs estimated at USD 26 billion a year in lost productivity, sector watchers see the All On-Salpha tie-up as a template for channeling patient, local-currency capital into hardware makers that understand Nigeria’s last-mile realities.