The Federal Government has secured $750 million in World Bank funding to construct 1,200 mini-grids in rural communities across Nigeria, as announced by Abba Aliyu, Managing Director and CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), during a press briefing at the Alliance for Rural Electrification Energy Access Forum in Lagos on Tuesday.
President Bola Tinubu approved the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up project, aiming to provide energy access to millions of Nigerians in rural areas. Aliyu highlighted that approximately 19 million of the 85 million Nigerians currently without electricity would benefit from this initiative.
“Nigeria faces the largest electricity gap in the world,” Aliyu said, noting the Federal Government’s efforts to bridge this gap. The $750 million will serve as a capital subsidy to incentivise the private sector, targeting the electrification of 23 per cent of unelectrified Nigerians.
“The Federal Government, under President Bola Tinubu’s leadership, has approved the largest public sector-funded off-grid project globally,” Aliyu stated. “This $750 million project will use the funding as a capital subsidy to incentivise the private sector to electrify 23 per cent of the total unelectrified Nigerians. We aim to provide three million Nigerians with electricity through isolated mini-grids, 1.5 million Nigerians with electricity via interconnected mini-grids, and about 15.5 million Nigerians with solar system mesh-grids.”
Aliyu further explained that the funding would also support over 40,000 farmers with productive use equipment to enhance their productivity. The REA is already implementing the Nigeria Electrification Project, a $550 million initiative funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, reiterated the government’s commitment to extending energy access to all Nigerians. Represented by his Technical Advisor, Adedayo Awoniyi, Adelabu noted the importance of off-grid technology in achieving this goal. “We realise it is impossible to bring energy access to everyone through the grid. Off-grid technology is crucial for accelerating access to energy in rural areas,” he said.
Adelabu stressed the need to shift from grant funding to commercially viable mini-grid investments to achieve universal electrification. “We believe that to bring 95 million Nigerians into energy access, we need more than grant funding. There have to be commercially viable mini-grid investments,” he remarked. He also emphasised the need for a clear electrification plan to allocate different types of capital to various projects, aiming for 100 per cent access to electricity in Nigeria.
David Lecoque, CEO of the Alliance for Rural Electrification, underscored the conference’s goal of fostering investments and partnerships with the Nigerian government and international partners in the renewable energy sector. “The purpose is to debate how to provide energy access to 85 million unserved Nigerians,” Lecoque stated.
