IFU exits West African solar company to Shell

A consortium of shareholders, led by Danish development finance institution IFU, have sold 100% of their shares in the West African solar company Daystar Power to Shell.

“We are proud to announce that IFU has successfully sold its shares in the leading West African solar company Daystar Power. During our engagement, Daystar has developed successfully and has become an attractive investment for Shell, which has solid experience from the energy sector in Africa and now wants to further their presence in the renewable power space,” said Torben Huss, CEO of IFU.

IFU’s investment in Daystar Power was made on behalf of the Danish SDG Investment Fund, which is a public-private partnership backed by large Danish pension funds and private investors. The purpose of the fund is to support the Sustainable Development Goals by making commercial investments in emerging markets.

Daystar Power’s business model is to provide solar solutions to commercial and industrial companies (C&I), whose current energy needs are not met by the grid. In Nigeria for example, the grid only supplies 20% of C&I demand – even in major cities. The remaining 80% is self-generated by diesel generators. The International Monetary Fund found that “lack of access to electricity and unreliable electricity supply are key constraints to doing business in Nigeria” and estimated the annual economic loss at about $29 billion.

“We have seen booming demand for solar energy in the African markets where we operate. That has been reflected in our growth: we are on track to increase our installed solar capacity by 135% in 2022,” said Jasper Graf von Hardenberg, CEO and co-founder of Daystar Power. “As part of Shell we will be able to execute our mission even faster to deliver carbon emission reductions and power cost savings to businesses across Africa.”