KawiSafi Ventures is investing $2 million in Orb Energy as capital moves toward the commercial and industrial segment of East Africa’s solar market. The investment will support Orb’s expansion of its C&I solar business across Kenya and the wider region, targeting companies looking for more reliable and potentially lower-cost electricity without waiting for improvements in the conventional grid.
The opportunity is closely tied to the economics of power for businesses. Commercial and industrial customers often face a combination of unreliable grid supply, rising electricity costs and expensive backup generation, creating a strong incentive to install their own solar systems. Unlike household solar, C&I projects can also support larger systems with predictable commercial demand, making the segment attractive to developers and investors looking for recurring project opportunities.
Orb already has a track record in this market. The company says it has installed nearly 15 MW of solar capacity for more than 60 C&I customers across Africa, giving it an existing portfolio from which to expand. Its model allows businesses to deploy solar without necessarily carrying the entire upfront cost of a system, helping align investment in generation with the customer’s electricity consumption and operating cash flows.
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KawiSafi’s investment also illustrates the role of specialised climate and impact investors in scaling distributed energy. The challenge for C&I solar is increasingly less about whether the technology works and more about financing enough projects, reaching suitable customers and building the operational capacity to deploy systems repeatedly. Growth capital can therefore help a developer move from individual installations to a larger regional portfolio.
The $2 million investment comes as East Africa’s commercial solar market becomes an increasingly important part of the region’s energy transition. For businesses, the attraction is practical: greater control over electricity costs and supply. For investors, the opportunity lies in turning that demand into a repeatable infrastructure business. Orb’s expansion will test how far that model can scale across East Africa as more companies look beyond the grid for their power needs.
