World Bank to help fund 1,000 mini solar power grids in Nigeria

A technician works on solar power panels at the Atlantic Shrimpers farm in Badagry, Lagos, Nigeria. 2022. Source: Reuters/Temilade Adelaja

Nigeria, with a population of more than 200 million people, has installed power generation capacity of 12,500MW but produces a fraction of that, leaving millions of households and businesses reliant on petrol and diesel generators.

Mini-grids, made up of small-scale electricity generating units, typically range in size from a few kilowatts to up to 10MW, enough to power some 200 households.

Speaking during a visit to a mini-grid site on the outskirts of the capital Abuja, Banga told reporters that nearly 150 mini-grids had been built, partly funded by the World Bank, to bring power to communities without access to electricity.

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Multi-million-dollar investment

"We are putting another 300 in, but our ambition with the government is to go all the way to 1,000. We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that are being invested," said Banga, without giving a timeline.

"Now the idea is not for the World Bank to be the only person putting the money. We put part of the money like a subsidy."

World Bank data shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, 568 million people still lack access to electricity. Globally, nearly 8 out of 10 people without electricity live in Africa.