Six Kenyan SMEs secure Sh181m clean energy funding

Nineteen productive use appliance companies across Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia have been awarded $1.5 million (Sh181 million) to expand access to income-generating solar appliances for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

 The funding through the Productive Use Financing Facility (PUFF) was announced by Collaborative Labelling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP) at the two-day Adaptation Investment Summit 2026 that is taking place in Nairobi that started on Monday.

The money will help beneficiaries to increase productivity, create jobs, and grow local economies.

The funding aims to deploy 3,800 productive use equipment (PUE), supporting over 3,000 green jobs across the three countries.

The selected beneficiary companies are five from Ethiopia: Awdi Negesti Special Purpose Machinery Manufacturing, Centre for Applied Manufacturing Service and Engineering, Green Scene Energy PLC, Inter Ethiopia, Zicon Trading.

The six from Kenya are Agsol Ltd, Epicentre Africa Ltd, Plexus Energy Ltd, Suncool Storage, SunCulture Kenya Ltd, Sunspot Energy Kenya (Spark Possibilities).

Finally, the eight from Nigeria are Asolar System Nigeria Ltd, Ceesolar Energy Ltd, Cloud Energy Photoelectric, Consistent Energy Ltd, D@ech Nig Ltd, Ecotutu, Sosai Renewable Energies, GreenPower Overseas Ltd.

While electricity access across Africa continues to grow through initiatives such as Mission 300, many businesses lack access to the appliances needed to turn energy into jobs, income and opportunity.

These appliances include solar-powered water pumps, solar-powered refrigeration, solar-powered milling equipment and other income-generating appliances.

High up-front set-up costs and costs associated with running inefficient appliances are the primary barriers to growth for businesses in Africa.

PUFF, an initiative managed by CLASP and supported by the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, will fund the selected companies to help reduce upfront production costs and make the appliances more affordable and accessible to farmers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses across the target regions.

This access will enable more entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, creating increased income and impact for their families and communities.

 “Africa's economic future depends not just on expanding access to electricity, but on ensuring that energy powers businesses, creates jobs, and improves livelihoods. The technologies already exist,” said Emmanuel Aziebor, Senior Director, Africa at CLASP, while commenting on the initiative.

 “The challenge is making them accessible to the entrepreneurs who need them most. Through PUFF, we are helping bridge that gap so more businesses can invest, grow, and drive local economic development.”

 The selected companies are entering a sector with considerable room to grow: the productive use appliances (appliances that generate income) sector currently reaches less than one per cent of the serviceable African market.

 If the sector were able to bridge that gap, it would lead to more jobs and increased incomes, reaching an income potential of almost $16 billion (Sh2.06 trillion) each year and the creation of 50 million new jobs over the next decade.

 “We understand that creating access to affordable capital is essential for accelerating the adoption of renewable energy technologies. Our goal is to empower African entrepreneurs with the tools to grow their businesses by aligning finance, technology, markets and enabling policies that do this while accelerating more equitable energy transition across the region,” said Carol Koech, Vice President for Africa at the Global Energy Alliance.

William Mulehi, Senior Manager at CLASP, said the market is ready and now what is needed is financing.

"What we've learned through PUFF is that the market is ready. The next step is helping businesses overcome the upfront cost of investing in productive-use appliances. This second round of funding is designed to do exactly that, enabling the selected companies to adopt technologies that will enable them to reach more entrepreneurs and expand into new markets," he said.

PUFF has a proven track record. The initiative provided $2.7 million (347.9 million) in its first round of funding between 2022 and 2024 to support the sale of almost 16,000 income-generating appliances across the region, directly impacting over 53,000 people across Africa.