Norfund invests in MOPO, scaling solar battery rentals across Africa

• Norway’s Norfund invested GBP 5 million in MOPO, backing solar-charged battery rentals that deliver affordable, reliable power in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Norway’s state-backed fund Norfund has invested GBP 5 million (about USD 6.75 million) in Mobile Power (MOPO), a UK company operating solar-powered battery rental networks across Sub-Saharan Africa. The capital will help MOPO expand its “pay-per-use” model that charges portable batteries at solar hubs and rents them to households and small businesses—an alternative to costly diesel and unreliable grids.

MOPO’s approach addresses three pain points at once: access, affordability, and resilience. Customers avoid big upfront costs, pay only for the energy they use, and gain a reliable service that isn’t tied to volatile fuel prices. For communities, the model supports productive uses—lighting, phone charging, point-of-sale, refrigeration—while building local jobs around charging hubs and last-mile logistics.

For Norfund, the deal fits a broader thesis: distributed solar paired with storage can leapfrog traditional infrastructure in underserved regions. Portfolio economics improve as sites standardize hardware and software, route maintenance through local partners, and integrate mobile payments to curb churn and defaults.

The investment also signals growing institutional comfort with off-grid business models that blend impact and returns. If MOPO scales as planned, expect more capital to follow into modular, replicable platforms that deliver clean electrons and economic opportunity far from national grids.