Going Green: Scaling up access to clean electricity for over 17 million Nigerians

Dr. Garba Buwa recalls the challenges his hospital faced in providing lifesaving medical care to patients due to the lack of reliable electricity. The State Specialist Hospital in Gombe, where Dr. Buwa works as a gynecologist, experienced frequent power outages from the national grid, and the generators were unreliable and often broke down at crucial times. This meant that they had to refer patients to other hospitals, which was especially difficult for low-income individuals who couldn't afford the services at these other facilities.

"We faced situations where there was no electricity from the national grid, and the generator was also unavailable” recounts Dr. Buwa. “In 2018, during a six-month period from January to June, approximately 38 women died during pregnancy or after delivery, and more than 300 babies lost their lives. These tragic outcomes were largely attributed to the inadequate lighting in the hospital”.

Access to electricity is a significant challenge in Nigeria, with more than 85 million people living without it as of 2021. The population has grown faster than electrification efforts, impacting households, businesses and essential public services like healthcare and education. Even those with access to electricity often experience power cuts and rely on generator sets.

Mindful of these challenges and the positive impact of improved access to electricity on businesses and households, the Government of Nigeria launched the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), a program with financing of $550 million of which $350 million was a credit from The World Bank. The program, which was aimed at providing off-grid electricity access across Nigeria, has provided clean and reliable electricity to over 5 million people and created over five thousand green jobs.

Amongst the thousands reached includes Dr. Buwa and his colleagues whose hospital has benefited from the solar energy installation that is now providing clean and reliable electricity to the hospital.

“Solar energy has been a game-changer in ensuring the survival of mothers and newborn babies. Solar lighting has significantly improved our obstetrics and gynecological theater, providing ample illumination for surgeries and procedures” said Dr. Buwa.

The efforts of the Government to deploy renewable energy through solar-powered mini grids have had an immense impact on SMEs as it has enabled thousands of entrepreneurs to stop relying on polluting generator sets, which has reduced the operating costs of these SMEs.

Abiodun Taiwo, a barber in Ogun state, owns a small shop that he operates daily to earn a living to care for his family. He shares how access to solar electricity has made an impact on his business.

“Using solar power has significantly reduced my costs compared to using fuel, allowing me to offer services at a regular price and make a profit. Solar energy also allows me to charge my phone, clippers, and play music, enhancing my business operations.”

While progress has been made with millions of underserved Nigerians getting access to electricity through private sector-led initiatives like the NEP, Nigeria is still far off from achieving its universal electrification targets. Achieving this will require enormous investment in renewable energy infrastructure to connect millions of people to electricity. The government is taking up this challenge with the new ‘Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES)’ program to expand on the success achieved under the NEP. DARES will provide over 17 million Nigerians with new or improved access to electricity through the deployment of solar mini grids and solar home systems. More than 280,000 polluting and expensive petrol and diesel generator sets will be replaced with clean and reliable electricity, and the DARES program will provide up to 237,000 MSMEs with electricity that can help them generate more income and create local jobs for citizens.

The Government will use a results-based approach and leverage the DARES platform to bring in all the donors starting with World Bank financing of $750 million, with further contributions of $200 million from JICA, $100 million under preparation from IFC, $100 million from GEAPP and additional resources from AfDB and SE4ALL, crowding in over additional $1 billion in private investment towards deploying the required infrastructure and capacity needed to scale up access. For millions of Nigerians like Dr. Buwa and Abiodun, the new program offers a hopeful promise that they will be able to switch on the lights and get the benefits of being connected to clean and reliable electricity in their homes, businesses, schools, and hospitals.