Prado_DARES (IFC-50862)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Nigeria
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Benue, FCT, Nassarawa, Niger, Ondo, and Taraba
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Nov 15, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Prado Power Limited
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 8.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 8.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 10.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Other Related Projects
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Nov 3, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Sep 30, 2025

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

Prado Power, established in 2014 in Nigeria with headquarters in Abuja, focuses on providing affordable cleantech solutions to deliver electricity to off-grid and underserved communities, as well as commercial and industrial clients. The company currently operates 10 mini-grids with a total installed capacity of 0.7 MW, serving over 100,000 people across five states: Benue, Adamawa, Niger, Akwa Ibom, and Ondo. Additionally, Prado Power is constructing six mini-grids with a capacity of 1.8 MW in Benue, Niger, and Adamawa States.

IFC intends to support the World Bank (WB) financed Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (“WB Nigeria DARES”) project (P179687) through a proposed investment of a 4-year revolving facility. This investment aims to support up to 20 eligible mini-grid Renewable Service Companies (RESCOs) and Solar to Home Service (SHS) companies (“Clients”) participating in WB Nigeria DARES by part-financing the construction and operationalization of isolated and/or interconnected mini-grids or sales of SHS in rural or remote communities. It builds on the achievements of the WB financed Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), which has supported the establishment of 175 mini-grids and the sale of over 1.1 million Solar Home Systems, with more than 7.8 million Nigerians gaining access to electricity.

The proposed IFC investment consists of a revolving loan of up to USD 10 million to partly finance the 4-year capital expenditure plan by Prado Power Limited to support the construction and operation of 21 isolated mini-grids with a combined capacity of 9.5MW and establish up to 77,202 connections in the states of Benue, FCT, Nassarawa, Niger, Ondo, and Taraba. The loan will be secured entirely through an assignment of grant amounts due to Prado Power under the WB Nigeria DARES. The mini-grid sites are mostly in rural communities, on small plots of land with sizes ranging from 0.15 hectares up to 10 hectares, acquired through outright purchase from individuals, households, or communities. Land for mini-grids is acquired in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank-approved Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) developed under the DARES Platform, which serves as a core E&S instrument for projects implemented through this program. The mini-grid capacities range from 100kw to 8,000kw and construction of each will last up to nine months and will be performed by both Prado Power and Contractors. IFC proceeds will be used solely to construct and operate mini grids.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

As stated by the IFC, the proposed IFC financing will be a secured revolving debt facility to Prado comprising: (1) an IFC A loan of up to US$4 million on its own account; and (2) a subordinated concessional loan of up to US$4 million from IFC as implementing entity of the IDA21 Private Sector Window (PSW) Blended Finance Facility (BFF) and for its own account under IFC’s Concessional Capital Window (CCW)-IDA21. IFC will also mobilize US$2 million from NorFund as a parallel lender.

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated by the IFC, Prado is a Nigerian renewable energy company focused on delivering affordable clean energy to underserved communities, with a strong emphasis on agricultural productivity and women’s empowerment. Prado’s model integrates energy access with rural economic development through agro-hubs and productive use of energy (PUE) financing, in partnership with its affiliate Farm Warehouse. The Company has built [10] mini-grids including 5 sites under the Nigeria Electrification Programme (NEP). The Company is 100% owned by its founders and management team. 

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
KLP Norfund Investments Investor Finance invests in Prado Power Limited Client Energy

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

General IFC Inquiries - IFC Communications:

Address: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20433
Telephone: +1 202-473-3800
Fax: +1 202-974-4384

Client - Prado Power Limited:

Washima Mede - Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +234 810 629 9740
Email: w.mede@pradopower.org 
Address: 4 Gongola Street, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria
Website: https://pradopower.org/  

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

How it works

How it works