The lights in Lagos, Nigeria, go out between 30 and 60 times a month. When power does flow, it lasts perhaps six to eight hours a day—enough to charge a phone, but not nearly enough to run a factory. It is the same story in Nairobi, Lusaka, and Dakar— cities that are technically electrified.
At a moment when artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and the clean-energy transition are rewriting the global economic order, Africa’s commercial hubs risk getting left behind again—not because they lack wires, but because the electrons flowing through those networks are unreliable, untracked, and leaking.
That is the argument Bim Adisa has been making to utilities, investors, and anyone who will listen. Adisa is the founder and CEO of Beacon Power Services, a Nigerian-based firm that builds data and software solutions for African power grids. His pitch is equal parts engineering lecture and economic manifesto: the path to a more stable, prosperous world runs through the transformer stations of sub-Saharan Africa, and the technology to fix them already exists.
“No economy grows without electricity. It’s fundamental to industrialization, and in the 21st century, to digitization. Africa missed the last industrial revolution. Now we’re having another one, underpinned by electricity. It’s really critical that we fix the electricity problem now,” Adisa told me in a virtual interview.
The common narrative around African electrification fixates on the roughly 600 million people who have no access to electricity at all. That number is real—and damning. But just as important is that somewhere between 500 and 600 million Africans do have grid connections, yet those networks fail them daily.
We’re pleased to announce the appointment of Ije Ikoku Okeke to the Board of Directors.
Ije brings over twenty years of experience in infrastructure investing, renewable energy, and development finance. She has led investments totaling more than $3 billion in energy and infrastructure projects across the United States, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and other emerging markets.
Currently, Ije serves as Managing Director at RMI, where she leads initiatives to expand climate and renewable energy finance in emerging markets. Her work focuses on unlocking capital and establishing partnerships to support sustainable infrastructure growth.
Earlier in her career, Ije helped start CEC Africa, an energy investment platform backed by private equity with about $1 billion in assets focused on power projects. She also held leadership roles at the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank, where she managed investments in telecom, transport, and energy in Latin America and Africa.
In addition to her executive roles, Ije has served on the boards of several infrastructure companies and on advisory boards and investment committees for private equity and venture funds. She has also advised global initiatives, including the Rockefeller Foundation and the MIT Energy Initiative, through the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty.
“We are delighted to welcome Ije to the Beacon Power Services Board,” said Bim Adisa, CEO and Founder of Beacon Power Services. “Her deep experience in energy infrastructure and sustainable investment in Africa and other emerging markets brings a valuable perspective to our Board. Ije’s history of mobilizing capital for infrastructure and energy projects worldwide will be a great asset as we continue to grow and increase our impact.”
Ije earned her MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
We look forward to the expertise and perspective Ije will contribute to Beacon Power Services.
Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has facilitated a debt facility for Beacon Power Services (BPS). BPS is an energy-tech company that provides data and grid management solutions for electricity utilities, helping improve grid reliability across Africa. The financing will help BPS expand its product offerings in Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania, and Togo, primarily by purchasing and deploying smart meters for grid assets, such as substations and transformers.
Electricity grids across Africa are largely unreliable, with customers experiencing frequent and extended power outages. Without a stable grid, many households, businesses, and social facilities depend on expensive self-generated electricity, placing a heavy burden on vulnerable populations.
High distribution losses are among the root causes of poor grid reliability. In Nigeria, for example, grid losses exceed 40% due to outdated infrastructure, electricity theft, and inaccurate billing practices. These inefficiencies severely limit utilities’ ability to reinvest in essential upgrades and maintenance, exacerbating the energy access deficit in the region.
Powered by its proprietary software, developed entirely in Africa, and enabled by a network of field operators, BPS’s solutions are designed to help utilities across the continent increase revenue and reduce grid losses. These solutions include a GIS-enabled platform and a front-end application to map grid assets and customers. It also includes a grid visibility platform to track the flow of electricity from source to customers in real time, and revenue protection functionality to perform network accounting and ensure revenue recovery. The outage management module not only detects the location of outages but also uses AI to preempt and prevent outages.
For most consumers in Africa, the alternative to the grid is self-generation, typically using diesel fuel. As such, by making the grid more reliable, BPS is significantly reducing CO2 emissions. Through its partnerships with electricity distributors in five African countries, BPS currently impacts over 50 million individuals and businesses, providing more reliable electricity.
“Symbiotics is thrilled to support Beacon Power Services in its mission to improve energy access and reliability in Africa. Access to reliable power is key to unlocking economic growth in the region,” said Vincent Lehner, Head of Markets at Symbiotics. “This investment is aligned with our view that companies combining deep knowledge in the challenges on the ground with innovative tech-focused solutions, such as Beacon Power Services, can have transformational social and climate impact in emerging and frontier markets.”
“This debt facility provided by Symbiotics strongly enhances our efforts to modernize electricity distribution in Africa. Deploying smart meters to monitor critical grid assets is essential to reducing grid losses and improving reliability. We appreciate Symbiotics’ support in helping us increase our capacity to serve electricity utilities in building modern grid systems across Africa,” said Bim Adisa, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of BPS.
This partnership aligns with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy. It reinforces Symbiotics’ mission to finance high-impact solutions that address climate and social challenges in underserved markets through innovative, scalable approaches.
About Symbiotics Symbiotics is the leading market access platform for impact investing, dedicated to private markets in emerging and frontier economies. The group offers investment, asset management, and capacity building services. Since 2005, we have originated over 8,200 investments representing more than USD 10.5 billion for 608 companies in 99 countries. We manage an aggregate portfolio of USD 2.5 billion spread across 19 funds and mandates. Our portfolio companies have also benefited from over 170 technical assistance projects worth more than USD 19 million. symbioticsgroup.com
About Beacon Power Services
Beacon Power Services (BPS) is a leading energy-tech company delivering data-driven solutions that help African electricity utilities improve grid performance and reliability. BPS provides real-time visibility, smart metering support, and AI-powered tools that help utilities increase revenue, reduce losses, and strengthen grid reliability, all while improving customer satisfaction. Active in Africa, BPS is committed to enabling efficient, modern, and resilient electricity distribution networks across the continent. bpsafrica.com
At our essence, “Have fun” is one of our core values, and we were eager to put it into practice. After months of planning, we hosted our global team bonding event, and it was wonderful to have everyone together in one place!
Here’s a recap of how it went.
Football and Games
We began with football because it’s the universal language. First up, it was between the Nigerian team and the Ghana team, and the rivalry and banter lived up to expectations, hello, Africa Cup of Nations. This wasn’t just football; there was strategy, skills on display, and some good-natured trash talk.
Afterwards, Nigeria faced the Global team, which included anyone else who wanted to join. Watching colleagues, whom you’ve only seen or heard on video calls, suddenly competing as athletes was quite entertaining.
Our female colleagues put on a great show that kept us amused. We laughed as we watched a mix of air kicks and some impressive plays. The match was fun from start to finish. They were all determined to win, and it was so close that we had to settle it with a penalty shootout.
We then continued with some classic games. The limbo bar revealed who had hidden flexibility and who did not. Connect 4 turned out to be unexpectedly strategic, and who knew our Admin team had such a competitive edge?
Team Dinner
The evening dinner really was the highlight. After months of saying “Can you see my screen?” and “You’re muted, if you’re speaking,” we finally sat face-to-face as real people.
Our CEO took a moment to address the team, sharing insights about our future direction at BPS and expressing appreciation for everyone’s hard work. It was refreshing to hear those words in person, rather than on a screen.
Following that, conversations flowed naturally. We got to know each other’s backgrounds, exchanged stories unrelated to work, and discovered that some colleagues can seriously consider pursuing dance as a career.
More Than Just a Weekend
Our team bonding exercise was an amazing experience filled with sports, games, tasty food, and great conversations. We laughed, challenged each other, and created memories that helped us connect on a deeper level.
As we approach the end of the year, the connections we’ve fostered within our global team have boosted our morale and driven us to reach our objectives and finish the year strong.
We’re excited to share that our client, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has been honored with the “State Organization Project of the Year Award” at the 2025 PMI Excellence Awards for their implementation of CAIMS (Customer Asset Information Management System).
What This Means
Presented by the Project Management Institute in Ghana, the award honors public-sector projects that exhibit exceptional execution, impact, and innovation. ECG’s achievement highlights its commitment to enhancing operational efficiency and customer service through the use of modern, data-driven tools.
What CAIMS delivers
CAIMS is a comprehensive network and customer digitization solution that connects electricity assets and customers into a single unified view. This integrated approach lays the groundwork for efficient operations and accurate billing, addressing two major challenges faced by utilities across Africa.
Before implementing CAIMS, ECG struggled with fragmented data systems, manual processes, and limited visibility into its network operations.
CAIMS Difference at ECG
The implementation of CAIMS at ECG resulted in measurable improvements across ECG’s operations. By digitizing over 1.5 million customers and mapping assets across various districts, network visibility greatly increased.
This has led to faster response times for outages and enabled more proactive maintenance scheduling. Additionally, billing accuracy improved because of a better alignment between assets and customers, while the progress in operational efficiency has allowed resources to be redirected toward strategic initiatives.
Most importantly, ECG now holds an accurate database that serves as a single source of truth for customer and asset data. This improvement enables ECG to reliably serve its growing customer base.
A Partnership Model That Works
ECG’s success shows what can happen when utilities adopt digital transformation with the right partner. Our strategy emphasizes understanding each utility’s unique challenges and creating solutions that work within their existing operational frameworks.
We collaborated closely with ECG’s teams from the initial project design through to deployment, ensuring that CAIMS was customized to fit their specific environment and operational requirements. Our approach emphasizes active listening, boots on the ground, and long-term support. This model is vital for creating a lasting impact in Africa’s power sector.
Congratulations to ECG for this well-deserved recognition. We are proud to have played a role in this journey and look forward to helping more utilities across the continent achieve similar results.
