OIC completes RO 2m investment in Nafath
Oman Investment Corporation SAOC (OIC), a leading private equity investment company based in Oman, has made a venture capital investment in Nafath Renewable Energy (Nafath), an Omani SME, to support its vision to become a leading Omani renewable energy company in the region.
In the venture, OIC will provide up to RO 2 million in financial support to Nafath as well as financial management, project management and will work very closely with Natath’s founders and team to realise its vision
Nafath is a limited liability company based in Omanset up by three young Omani entrepreneurs and provides complete solutions for solar and renewable energy systems, including the engineering, design, supply, construction and installation of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems. Nafath is led by its CEO — Eng Abdullah al Saidi, who was awarded the Best Omani Entrepreneur by Riyada in 2016 together with founding Omani entrepreneurs, Musab al Farsi and Nasser al Jabri.
Kalat al Bulooshi (pictured), Chief Executive Officer at OIC stated: “This is one of our most promising venture capital investments in an Omani SME and we are delighted to have an opportunity to support local Omani entrepreneurs to grow their business to its full potential, and build national capability and capacity to deliver large scale renewable projects in Oman and internationally,creating significant InCountry Value (ICV) for Oman.
Our support to Nafath goes beyond the financial support and we will be working very closely with the management and will be providing support in financial management and planning, projects management as well as building Nafath from an SME to a large specialised company in the solar renewable energy.”
OIC sees renewables are the future of energy supply in Oman. Technological maturity and lower costs coupled with benefits of reducing local pollution and reducing CO2 emissions have made renewables — Wind and Solar Photovoltaics (PV) — the fastest-growing sources of electricity globally. Given the vast unused land and available solar energy resources, Oman has an excellent potential for solar energy development and deployment.
The Authority for Electricity Regulation Oman (AER) is about to launch a support scheme for smallsized residential PV systems which will pave the way for homeowners to install roof-top solar panels with any surplus electricity sent back into the national grid.
Nafath has successfully completed several solar projects in Oman and is continuing to explore opportunities in Oman’s nascent renewable energy market. “We are very excited about investment and support from OIC, which we believe is the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial partnership, as it will enable us to undertake several large renewable energy projects in Oman and other regional countries,” said Abdullah al Saidi, CEO of Nafath.