Sandra Chukwudozie is quietly rewriting the script. The founder and CEO of Salpha Energy, a Nigerian solar energy company, has just secured $1.3 million in new funding to scale up her female-led solar manufacturing operations. It is a major win, not just for the company, but for women across the continent who are pushing boundaries in the clean energy space.
Based in Nigeria, Salpha Energy is now the only woman-led company in sub-Saharan Africa running a full-scale solar home systems assembly facility. The funding, led by the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), in partnership with All On and other climate-focused investors, is set to accelerate local production, expand rural distribution, and create hundreds of jobs, particularly for women and youth.
For Chukwudozie, this investment is less about capital and more about impact. “What we’re building at Salpha is a vision of inclusion, access, and dignity. Solar is not just about power. It’s about empowering women to lead Africa’s energy transition,” she said in a recent statement.
Salpha Energy specialises in providing off-grid solar home systems, particularly to underserved communities in Nigeria’s rural and peri-urban areas. With a portfolio that includes pay-as-you-go solar kits, micro-grids, and rechargeable solar lanterns, the company has already impacted over 750,000 lives. Now, with this latest boost, the aim is to double that figure within the next two years.
The funding will also support technical training programmes for young female engineers and local solar technicians, bridging the gender skills gap that still exists in the energy sector.
Chukwudozie’s journey into solar energy is anything but conventional. A trained economist with a background in global oil and gas, she made a deliberate pivot to clean energy, determined to use her knowledge and influence to champion sustainability and female inclusion. Her presence in boardrooms and on factory floors is a reminder that women have a stake — and a say — in what Africa’s energy future looks like.
Her work has not gone unnoticed. Industry watchers have praised her model for its holistic approach: blending climate action, local job creation, gender equity, and real-time solutions to Nigeria’s lingering energy deficit. It’s a framework other African countries are now beginning to study and replicate.
