World Bank Greenlights $750 Million For Clean Energy Initiatives In Nigeria

The World Bank has approved a credit of $750 million for clean energy projects in Nigeria to boost electricity access in Africa’s most populous nation.

• Nigeria DARES project is the largest-ever single distributed energy project by the World Bank globally.
• The DARES project will benefit over 17.5 million unserved, underserved, rural, and remote Nigerians through the deployment of standalone solar and mini grids.
• More than 85 million people lacked access to electricity in Nigeria as of 2021.

The bank revealed this on Friday, stressing that more than 85 million people lacked access to electricity in Nigeria as of 2021, with households and businesses reliant on expensive diesel and petrol generators.

The bank said the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project will be financed by the International Development Association and will leverage over $1 billion of private capital and financing from development partners to provide access to new or improved electricity supplies to more than 17.5 million Nigerians.

Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Nigeria noted that the project is the largest-ever single distributed energy project by the World Bank globally.

What Country Director Said:

“We are committed to expanding clean energy-based access in Nigeria, with the USD $750 million Nigeria DARES project being the largest ever single distributed energy project of the World Bank globally,”

“It will benefit over 17.5 million unserved, underserved, rural, and remote Nigerians through the deployment of standalone solar and mini grids and replace more than 280,000 polluting and expensive petrol and diesel generator sets, an important step for Nigeria towards achieving its energy transition targets,” he said.

“Through the DARES project, Nigeria will be able to provide up to 237,000 MSMEs with reliable and clean electricity for productive uses that will help improve their potential to generate income and create local jobs,” he added.

The Bank revealed that to further address the access gap, DARES will build on the achievements of the World Bank-financed Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), which has supported the establishment of 125 mini-grids and the sale of over a million Solar Home Systems, through which more than 5.5 million Nigerians have gained access to electricity.

The minister of power in Nigeria, Adebayo Adebalu expresses his excitement about innovative financial instruments like the DARES program.

“The ripple effect reaches unserved and underserved communities, unlocking access to a realm of clean and equitable energy for all. It’s a powerful journey of empowerment and transformation,” he said.