A global appliance authority, CLASP, has announced $1.5 million in funding to 19 productive-use solar companies across Kenya, Nigeria, and Ethiopia to expand access to solar-powered appliances that will help small businesses increase productivity, create jobs and boost incomes.
Awarded through the Productive Use Financing Facility (PUFF) at the Adaptation Investment Summit 2026, the grants aim to accelerate the deployment of income-generating solar appliances—such as water pumps, milling equipment, and refrigeration—for local entrepreneurs.
The funding is also expected to support the deployment of 3,800 productive-use appliances (PUAs) and create more than 3,000 green jobs across the three countries.
The selected companies comprise five firms from Ethiopia, six from Kenya and eight from Nigeria.
The Nigerian companies selected for the second round of funding are Asolar System Nigeria Limited, Ceesolar Energy Limited, Cloud Energy Photoelectric, Consistent Energy Ltd, D@ech Nig Ltd, Ecotutu, Sosai Renewable Energies, and GreenPower Overseas Limited.
The Ethiopian beneficiaries include Awdi Negesti Special Purpose Machinery Manufacturing, Center for Applied Manufacturing Service & Engineering, Green Scene Energy PLC, Inter Ethiopia and Zicon Trading, while Kenya’s successful companies are Agsol Limited, Epicenter Africa Limited, Plexus Energy Limited, Suncool Storage, SunCulture Kenya Limited and Sunspot Energy Kenya (Spark Possibilities).
Although electricity access continues to improve across Africa through initiatives such as Mission 300, CLASP noted that many entrepreneurs and small businesses still lack affordable access to productive-use equipment needed to translate electricity into income and employment.
These technologies include solar-powered water pumps, refrigeration systems, milling machines and other energy-efficient appliances that support agriculture and small-scale enterprises.
According to the organisation, high upfront costs remain one of the biggest barriers preventing businesses from adopting the technologies.
Through PUFF, grants and procurement subsidies will help manufacturers, suppliers and distributors reduce production costs, making the appliances more affordable for farmers, entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Speaking on the initiative, Emmanuel Aziebor, Senior Director for Africa at CLASP, said expanding energy access alone is insufficient without enabling businesses to use that energy productively.
“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. The challenge is making them accessible to the entrepreneurs who need them most.”
He said the programme would help businesses invest, expand operations and stimulate local economic development.
Also commenting, Carol Koech, Vice President for Africa at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), said affordable financing remains critical to accelerating renewable energy adoption across the continent.
“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,” she noted.
Similarly, William Mulehi, Senior Manager at CLASP, said the second funding round builds on lessons from the programme’s first phase.
“The market is ready. The next step is helping businesses overcome the upfront cost of investing in productive-use appliances.”
CLASP estimates that productive-use appliances currently serve less than one per cent of the addressable African market.
Closing this gap, the organisation said, could unlock nearly US$16 billion in annual income opportunities and generate about 50 million new jobs over the next decade.
The latest funding builds on PUFF’s first phase, which distributed US$2.7 million between 2022 and 2024, supporting the sale of almost 16,000 income-generating appliances that directly benefited more than 53,000 people across Africa.
The Productive Use Financing Facility is managed by CLASP with support from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet as part of broader efforts to accelerate clean energy adoption and economic development across emerging markets.
