A United Kingdom based energy revenue management company, SteamaCo, has merged with Shyft Power Solutions, a Nigerian innovator in digital energy solutions to join forces towards transforming the energy sector in Africa.
The merger is coming alongside a new funding round led by Equator VC and with participation from Praetura Ventures and KawiSafi Ventures, which collectively bring together decades of experience investing in African and climate-tech ventures, read a statement released by the firms on Thursday.
The merger is uniting two pioneers in advanced metering solutions, paving aimed at rapid expansion into the grid-connected market towards increased customer reach.
The company said SteamaCo with over a decade of experience providing advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to energy companies across 20 African countries, is set to transform the energy sector with features like AI-driven loss detection for major power companies, including Aba Power.
Its flagship product, Nimbus AMI, helps energy companies manage their networks, detect losses, and enhance customer service.
Shyft Power Solutions entered the Nigerian market nearly eight years ago with its cloud-based distributed energy resource management system and diesel management solutions, introducing its latest metering solution, FlexView, which offers enhanced reliability and allows energy consumers to monitor usage in near real-time, eliminating the need for tokens.
The statement also noted that the merger of SteamaCo and Shyft comes at a pivotal moment with recent regulatory changes that opened up new investment opportunities for independent power producers (IPPs) and utilities, particularly in grid intelligence and metering.
“With rising energy costs, there is a growing need for reliable power. Globally, over a billion people lack adequate access to quality power. In Nigeria, approximately half of the country’s 220 million population is connected to the national grid, which currently cannot meet daily energy demand.
“Even those connected to the grid frequently experience blackouts, forcing them to rely on expensive and polluting alternatives. Distributed energy resources like solar home systems and mini-grids are essential solutions to address this energy access crisis.” the company said.
Shyft’s CEO, Ugwem Eneyo said “Power plays a critical role in economic advancement and enabling sustainable cities, so catalyzing digital transformation with our solutions is a part of our overall commitment to enabling smart cities and sustainable communities”.
On his part, Tom Parkison, MD of SteamaCo, noted that “this merger greatly boosts our ability to grow in African markets. By combining our advanced metering technology with Shyft’s local expertise, we can better meet our customers’ specific needs. Together, we will foster innovation, improve our services, and provide effective, customized solutions to Africa’s energy issues”.