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.
Dele Faseemo, Group Head, Renewable Energy at Sterling Bank,
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.
He said the Imperium would provide a range of purchase
options to consumers because solar energy solutions are not one-size-fits-all,
so purchasing options should not be either.
According to him,
Sterling Bank employs several purchase models to provide renewable energy
solutions for its customers. This ensures that customers with different needs
and purchase abilities can access solar energy solutions.
He listed the options to include outright purchase, lease to
own, and power as a service. Using outright purchase as an example, he said
that energy consumers could purchase products directly from vendors via the
Imperium Platform, a dedicated e-commerce platform hosted by Sterling Bank.
In lease to own, Imperium provides financing at competitive
interest rates for consumers with good credit scores or clean credit checks who
are keen to own the assets. Under power as a service, Imperium offers fixed
monthly energy-charge options to consumers, but the underlying assets are owned
by Imperium as it (Imperium) purchases and owns the assets.
This saves clients huge capital outlay and maintenance
worries, while the monthly energy charge is based on the capacity deployed.
In this regard, the bank has recently partnered with the
Nike Art Gallery to install solar panels at the gallery via the bank's Imperium
outlet as part of its commitment to a renewable energy-powered Nigeria and the
development of the nation's tourism sector.
The development is a sequel to recent partnerships with the
gallery to drive an appreciation and spotlight the investment opportunities
available in Nigeria's arts and tourism sectors.
The Nike Art Gallery, owned by Chief Nike Okundaye, is one
of the largest of its kind in the West African sub-region, with a collection of
about 8,000 diverse artworks from various Nigerian artists.