Lagos — Twelve renewable energy start-ups have successfully completed a 16-week incubation programme run by the NCIC and funded and supported by off-grid energy impact investment company All On, via its technical support facility the All On Hub.
The participants received training and support in a variety of areas aimed at developing their business knowledge and commercial skillset. Such aspects included strategy and planning, product development, regulatory environment, marketing, finance and fund-raising.
“We were very impressed by the quality of the business pitches made by the ventures at the end of the entire training programme. The overall standard speaks to the hard work and commitment of the entrepreneurs, the quality of our training facilitators and the potential of the ventures,” said CEO of NCIC, Bankole Oloruntoba. “We are pleased to announce that the best eight business pitches will each be awarded a $10,000 grant to further develop their business ideas.”
The All On Hub, which is funded and supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, oversaw the coordination of the training events, with team members traveling to the various centres to ensure adequacy of the facilities and smooth running of the training sessions. The program transitioned to virtual training to overcome disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Hub was created to build a pipeline of sustainable off-grid energy businesses in Nigeria, which can help provide electricity powered by renewable energy to some of the 28 million households and 11 million Small and Medium Enterprises that still lack access to reliable on-grid energy in the country.
“We are pleased to have partnered with NCIC by sponsoring this program which groomed 12 energy entrepreneurs, taking their innovations from mere ideas to proper, marketable business concepts,” said All On Hub Manager, Sele Inegbedion. “This underscores our unwavering commitment to support the development of the Nigerian off-grid energy sector in order to close the country’s access-to-energy gap.”
Some innovations from the winning business ideas include the development of electric vehicles and charging stations, energy efficiency technologies, biogas production and systems built on IoT technology.
