Key points
- Eight Nigerian companies are among 19 African firms awarded $1.5 million under the Productive Use Financing Facility (PUFF).
- The funding will support the deployment of solar-powered productive appliances for farmers, entrepreneurs and small businesses.
- CLASP aims to deploy 3,800 productive-use appliances and create more than 3,000 green jobs.
- The initiative seeks to reduce upfront costs and expand access to clean energy technologies across Africa.
Main story
Eight Nigerian companies have secured funding under the Productive Use Financing Facility (PUFF), joining 11 other businesses from Kenya and Ethiopia in sharing $1.5 million to expand access to solar-powered productive appliances across Africa.
The funding was announced by global nonprofit organisation CLASP during the Adaptation Investment Summit 2026 in Nairobi as part of efforts to improve access to clean energy technologies for farmers, entrepreneurs and small businesses.
According to CLASP’s Senior Director for Africa, Emmanuel Aziebor, the programme aims to deploy about 3,800 productive-use appliances while creating more than 3,000 green jobs across the three participating countries.
Managed by CLASP with support from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), the Productive Use Financing Facility is designed to reduce the upfront cost of productive-use equipment, making clean energy technologies more affordable for businesses.
The selected companies will use the funding to expand access to solar-powered water pumps, refrigeration systems, milling equipment and other appliances that help enterprises increase productivity while lowering operating costs.
Aziebor said the initiative goes beyond expanding electricity access by ensuring that reliable energy translates into business growth, job creation and improved livelihoods.
“The technologies already exist. The challenge is making them accessible to the entrepreneurs who need them most,” he said.
“Through PUFF, we are helping to bridge that gap so that more businesses can invest, grow and drive local economic development.”
He noted that productive-use appliances currently serve less than one per cent of Africa’s addressable market despite their significant economic potential.
According to him, wider adoption of such technologies could generate almost $16 billion in additional annual income and create about 50 million jobs across the continent over the next decade.
Vice-President for Africa at GEAPP, Carol Koech, said affordable financing remained critical to increasing the adoption of renewable energy technologies by African businesses.
She said the partnership combined finance, technology, markets and supportive policies to help entrepreneurs expand their businesses while supporting a fair energy transition.
CLASP Senior Manager, William Mulehi, said the second funding round would enable participating companies to overcome investment barriers, reach more customers and expand into new markets.
He added that the programme’s first phase, implemented between 2022 and 2024, disbursed $2.7 million, supported the sale of nearly 16,000 productive-use appliances and directly benefited more than 53,000 people across Africa.
The issues
Limited access to affordable financing remains one of the biggest barriers to adopting productive-use renewable energy technologies across Africa. By reducing the upfront cost of solar-powered equipment, programmes such as PUFF aim to improve business productivity, create jobs, increase rural incomes and accelerate clean energy adoption.
What’s being said
“The technologies already exist. The challenge is making them accessible to the entrepreneurs who need them most.” — Emmanuel Aziebor, Senior Director for Africa, CLASP
“Through PUFF, we are helping to bridge that gap so that more businesses can invest, grow and drive local economic development.” — Emmanuel Aziebor, Senior Director for Africa, CLASP
What’s next
The selected companies will begin deploying the funded solar-powered productive appliances, with CLASP targeting the installation of 3,800 units and the creation of more than 3,000 green jobs while expanding clean energy access for businesses across Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia.
Bottom line
The PUFF funding is expected to help Nigerian and other African businesses expand access to productive-use solar technologies, supporting enterprise growth, job creation and wider adoption of clean energy solutions.
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