More than 80 million Nigerians, nearly 40% of the country's population, do not have access to electricity. The Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) has been instrumental in addressing this issue by supporting the Nigeria Electrification Project from 2018 to 2024.
The initiative successfully attracted and increased private sector investment in Nigeria's solar hybrid mini grids and standalone solar systems. This development transformed the energy sector and encouraged innovation among both local and international developers. As a result, the project facilitated the establishment of 125 mini grids and enabled the sale of over a million solar home systems, providing more than 5.5 million Nigerians with access to electricity. Additionally, it created over 5,000 local green jobs within the private sector.
ESMAP assembled a team of mini grid experts to advise the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency and offered technical support for various studies essential to the project's design and implementation. These studies included geospatial analysis for mini grid portfolio preparation, customization of the Odyssey eProcurement platform, cost benchmarking, developing minimum technical standards, matchmaking between developers and appliance suppliers, among other critical analytics. ESMAP also organized knowledge-sharing events and produced reference materials such as "Mini Grid for Half a Billion People" handbook and "Mini Grids for Underserved Customers" report that are widely used by practitioners in Nigeria's mini grid sector.
Looking ahead, a follow-on $750 million IDA project aims to provide over 17.5 million Nigerians with new or improved access to electricity through distributed renewable energy solutions.