By Chukwuma Umeorah
Access Bank Plc has introduced a solar energy financing model to facilitate sustainable energy supply across Nigeria’s health sector, offering medical facilities as an alternative to costly and unreliable grid power.
The ‘Solar for Health’ initiative is designed to provide hospitals, laboratories, and other healthcare facilities with affordable financing options to install energy-efficient solar solutions, enabling them to transition from high-cost fossil fuel dependency.
Gregory Jobome, Executive Director, Chief Risk Officer, Access Bank, speaking at the launch in Lagos on Friday, stated that businesses in the health sector could access up to N200 million to power their facilities through solar energy, with a 29 percent interest rate payable over 48 months (4 years).
According to Jobome, Nigeria’s healthcare sector is already burdened by several economic constraints, making it imperative to provide financing solutions that ease the energy burden.
“The solution we are offering allows medical facilities to adopt clean energy without bearing the heavy upfront costs. Over time, the savings from switching to solar will exceed what is paid on the loan,” Jobome said.
He further highlighted Access Bank’s collaboration with the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Associations Alliance (REEEA-A). The financing framework forms part of the bank’s broader Sustainable Finance Accelerator Programme aimed at driving renewable energy adoption in critical sectors of the economy.
The President of REEEA-A, Magnus Onuoha, commended Access Bank for the initiative but stressed that the success of the project hinged on the quality of installations and regulatory enforcement within Nigeria’s renewable energy space.
“Many installations fail because they are handled by unqualified technicians using inferior materials. If we are going to achieve scale, we need to develop capacity and enforce standards across the sector,” Onuoha said.
He, however, acknowledged that the government had made significant progress in creating policies and maintaining a conducive business environment, which had boosted investors’ confidence in Nigeria’s renewable energy space.