By Emmanuel Nduka
The World Bank has disclosed that it is aiming to help fund the construction of 1,000 mini solar power grids in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy.
Announcing this on Saturday, the Bank’s President Ajay Banga said deal will be in partnership with the Nigerian Government and private sector.
Banga who spoke during a visit to a mini grid site on the outskirts of Abuja, the Nigerian capital, told newsmen that nearly 150 mini grids had been built, partly funded by the World Bank, to bring power to communities without access to electricity.
“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,” he said.
With a population of more than 200 million people, Nigeria has installed power generation capacity of 12,500 megawatts (MW), 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 a size from a few kilowatts to up to 10 MW, enough to power some 200 households.
World Bank data shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, 568 million people still lack access to electricity.
