British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution, has provided $15m in mezzanine debt to Starsight Energy Africa Group. The capital is earmarked for scaling commercial and industrial (C&I) solar solutions across West Africa, with the majority of funds directed toward operations in Nigeria and Ghana.
For Starsight, a C&I solar provider operating across Sub-Saharan Africa, the fresh debt facility will be split between financing a new pipeline of renewable energy projects and upgrading or replacing existing client assets.
The Market Context: A 40GW Vacuum
The deal highlights a continuing trend of development finance institutions (DFIs) backing distributed renewable energy platforms to bypass unstable national grids in emerging markets.
In Nigeria — Starsight’s second-largest market — the national grid remains notoriously unreliable. Consequently, the commercial sector is heavily reliant on self-generation. Starsight estimates that up to 40GW of electricity in Nigeria is currently generated by independent, off-grid diesel and petrol generators.
This reliance creates a high-cost environment for businesses exposed to volatile global fuel prices and supply chain bottlenecks, while also running counter to regional climate targets.
Deal Mechanics and Strategy
The choice of mezzanine debt allows Starsight to access growth capital without immediately diluting existing equity, bridging the gap between senior debt and pure equity as it scales its capital-intensive solar infrastructure.
Key deployment areas for the $15m include:
- Infrastructure Rollout: Funding new C&I solar installations for enterprise clients.
- Asset Lifecycle Management: Maintaining and replacing hardware for existing clients to ensure continued power security.
- Market Deepening: Expanding operational density in Nigeria and Ghana, rather than opening new geographic markets.
Management on both sides framed the debt facility as a pragmatic step toward solving immediate operational bottlenecks for West African businesses, rather than purely a climate-driven initiative.
Paul van Zijl, Group CEO at Starsight, noted that the capital is a direct response to the “vacuum” in reliable grid power, enabling the company to replace diesel generation with solar for its C&I clients. Group Commercial Director Michael Chuchu added that the focus remains on “providing energy certainty” in regions where power instability acts as a primary barrier to economic growth.
From the investor’s side, Benson Adenuga, BII’s West Africa Regional Director, pointed to Starsight’s operational track record and the immediate economic necessity of the tech. “Nigeria’s businesses need dependable and affordable power to grow,” Adenuga said, noting that distributed solar platforms directly reduce commercial dependence on refined petroleum products.
The transaction also aligns with the UK government’s broader mandate in the region. Jonny Baxter, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, stated that the investment is a practical mechanism to “unlock growth, strengthen energy resilience, and reduce dependence on costly and polluting self-generation.”