Sterling Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading digital bank, has launched a new and innovative digital product, known as the Imperium Platform, in a bid to connect consumers and providers of renewable energy , solar solutions as a viable solution to Nigeria’s electricity crisis.
The Imperium Platform was launched following the unveiling of the Nigerian electricity industry report entitled, “Powering Nigeria: How Solar Energy Can Become a Sustainable Electricity Alternative.”
The report was produced by Sterling Bank in partnership with Stears, a digital information company.
Group Head, Renewable Energy at Sterling Bank, Dele Faseemo, said in a statement issued by the bank that the Imperium Platform seeks to provide clean and affordable energy solutions to interested customers while providing different financing options to customers purchasing the solution outright or paying for the installation and operation of the solution.
Faseemo explained that Sterling Bank, in partnership with Stears Data, the data collection, analytics, and data access division of Stears, embarked on the study to tackle the problem of providing solar energy in the country.
The report showed that despite the privatization of Nigeria’s electricity industry, the country still has one of the lowest electrification rates in the world, as 43 percent of its population has no access to grid electricity, an indication that 85 million Nigerians are not connected to – and cannot receive electricity from – the Nigerian transmission grid.