How we funded solar installations for emergency health facilities – CEO of All On

Covid Heroes is produced by BusinessDay in alliance with the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA) with a mission to increase the flow of private sector capital into social investments across Africa, in a move to quickly respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In keeping with its mission, AVPA invited C-Suite leaders within the private sector, foundations and government to participate in sharing their efforts to contribute towards combating coronavirus and its impact. The following interviews are examples of social impact being done in Lagos and across Nigeria by organisations on the platform.

How we funded solar installations for emergency health facilities – CEO of All On

Wiebe Boer is the CEO of All On, a Nigerian off-grid energy investment company seeded by Shell. He has served on a variety of corporate and public sector boards across Africa and is also a widely published author and speaker. Boer earned a PhD and two Masters’ degrees from Yale University and a Bachelor’s degree from Calvin University, all in history. In this interview, he explains how All On funded installation of solar systems, which guarantees a sense of relief for those operating health facilities. Excerpt:

What’s the detailed practicality of your service and what is your motivation for wanting to support COVID-19 relief efforts?
It was just a matter of time until COVID-19 would arrive in Nigeria and have detrimental consequences, so we realised that we needed to prepare for it and take action. All On wanted to create an initiative that works effectively within our sector. We created a fund of N180 million to fund solar installations at emergency health facilities to ensure that they would have the steady power they need. This would also help our investees receive revenue and increase their profiles at a time when income might be drying up as a result of the dwindling of contracts, and ultimately, people would realise that solar is a very important product to use at a time like this, especially when you need business continuity and when supply chains are breaking down. We picked four of our companies to invest in: Arnergy, Auxano, GVE and Lumos. These companies have a large operational footprint and inventory of equipment that is already in the market and can be deployed quickly to different locations. All On went through a grant process and gave each of them grants for them to deploy their equipment. It is basically a grant process and it is the investees that do all the operational work.

What is the scope of your overall solution?
Ultimately every initiative in the COVID-19 response is reaching the people who are ill and need treatment immediately in these specialised centres. Our investees are the ones who receive the money; the hospitals, isolation centres and the NGOs working with them receive the equipment and benefit from the solar power. In the end, power is to enable healthcare workers to treat and heal people.

Read also: How CBN’s interventions can help economic recovery post-Covid-19

Does the CSR Fund address the most vulnerable in our community?
The most vulnerable and at-risk people in our society are those living in high density, low-income areas in cities like Lagos. They work day-to-day for their daily income and sustenance. However, most of the early patients in Nigeria were those who had the means to travel or were connected to people who travelled abroad. These people are probably not the most vulnerable in terms of socioeconomic status; however, having COVID-19 is still a form of vulnerability. The initiative we implemented is currently assisting in situations where people have tested positive for the virus, are currently ill and are being treated in health facilities. The concern is that numbers will rise as the virus is now in the community. When it gets to low-income areas, it will become potentially explosive, these are the people who, if they become ill, will now be the beneficiaries.

Are your efforts scalable and replicable?
Definitely. By implementing the CSR Fund initiative we were able to set up a model that is both practical and pragmatic. Several organisations have followed our lead: The USADF has launched the same initiative, which is funding the installation of solar on health facilities for their portfolio companies across Africa. The Rural Electrification Agency in Nigeria has also just commissioned four solar grid installations in medical care centres in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun States. The World Bank sent out a survey for any solar operator who has inventory, operational capacities, etc., to register so that they can be picked to install solar panels on health facilities. Therefore, from small to large institutions, All On has set the pace for them; we acted quickly, created a name that could take-off, and used a practical approach that set in motion other initiatives.
The installation of solar systems guarantees a sense of relief for those operating these health facilities from relying on generators, especially during these times where diesel distribution could become problematic. Many of those doing this are already in the energy space, but external donors could also look at companies such as All On to give money to as a way to further the impact. Our initiatives are scalable and replicable and the results are immediately observable.

Who are your key collaborators and how do they fit into your network and goals?
Our four main investees for these projects are Arnergy, Auxano, GVE and Lumos. We have a portfolio of 21 investees but we had to limit those we could help fund, meaning that 17 companies are not part of this particular initiative. There was some disappointment, but they have been encouraged to seek out similar business opportunities with funding from other donors. The other partners of this initiative are the NGOs that each of our funded investees worked with to set up these facilities. Auxano worked with Fate Foundation for the installation of the solar grid system at the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Igbobi-Lagos. Arnergy installed the second grid system in partnership with the Co-Creation Hub at a testing centre at the National Institute of Medical Research. Other organisations such as The Rotary Club and The Stakeholder Democracy Network are also partnering on this and are helping in various cities in the country. There are several NGOs that are intermediaries between these companies All On is funding and the institutions they are working with because most of these facilities are government facilities.

What kind of support do you need for your efforts?
Some of the key institutions working on solar projects are either following our lead or undertaking different variations of it. So, one of the things that partners of networks that have initiatives that are preparing medical facilities for COVID-19 response and are in need of power can do is reach out to us to connect them to our investee companies. If we are unable to fund that specific initiative, we could connect them to others that are willing and able to fund those installations. Secondly, share the news on what our investees are doing because that helps build their business and keeps them operational during this difficult time. Thirdly, spread the word so that bigger companies can do more. All On wants to show that this work is ready and instant. Hopefully this will get others to respond in a similar manner.

All On announced a moratorium on all Q2 2020 loan interest payments on current interest-bearing investments on the 15th of April. The beneficiaries of the postponement include All On investees across Nigeria. The AFDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, commented on the debt payment deferment:
“I am pleased to see that All On is taking my recommendation to avoid fiscal distancing seriously and has deferred debt payments for its investees across Nigeria. This is an example for other impact investors across Africa to follow.”