Solar power producer Sun King targets triple growth in Nigeria

A Kenya-based solar power company is banking on using an $80 million loan from the World Bank’s private investment arm to meet its target of tripling sales in the world’s most electricity-deprived country within the next few years.

For nearly two decades, Sun King has sold solar-powered electronics to African households and small businesses with unreliable connections to grids, spreading full product payment over up to two years. Its kits are made in China and are now available in 11 African countries, including Nigeria where it has sold 2 million kits mostly within the last three years, founder and chief executive officer T. Patrick Walsh told Semafor.

Nigeria is where Sun King sees “the lowest rates of non-payment” for its products and is its fastest-growing market, Walsh said. Having concluded a deal this month for an $80 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a Nigerian bank, the company plans to rapidly scale up.

“We are probably going to grow in Nigeria by at least a factor of 3 from where we are today,” Walsh told Semafor. Tanzania, Malawi, and Togo are other markets where Sun King expects growth to speed up, he said.