EU Approves $4.5 Million To Strengthen Energy Access In Nigeria By 2025

The European Union has approved a $4.5 million working capital facility under the ElectriFI Country Window for Nigeria.

This grant will allow Okra Solar, a social impact company, to use solar mesh grids to target 76,000 beneficiaries by the end of 2025, Solar Quarter reported.

The ElectriFI Country Window for Nigeria is a joint effort between the European Union Delegations and the Nigerian government.

Launched in 2016, Okra Solar uses mesh-grid technology to provide electricity access for mini-grid developers with the aim of electrifying underserved or unserved communities.

"Even with off-grid solutions like mesh grids being 10 times cheaper than grid extension for hard-to-reach communities, 80 million people live off-grid in Nigeria. Okra is incredibly excited to work with EDFI ElectriFI to deploy innovative financial tools that will enable local developers to deploy mesh grids at scale and continue rapidly bringing power to the people," said Afnan Hannan, Co-founder and CEO of Okra Solar, as per Tech Moran.

The European Union's support for Okra through the ElectriFI Nigeria Country Window plays a significant role in helping the country to accelerate energy access to underprivileged communities.

"As such, it is at the heart of our partnership with Nigeria, which among others, aims at improving reliable energy access to seize the environmental, social, and economic potential of renewable energy," said Inga Stefanowicz, Head of Green and Digital Economy at the Delegation of the European Union to the Federal Republic of Nigeria & ECOWAS, according to the outlet.

A longstanding issue, Nigeria's electricity problem has stunted the country's industrial growth, limited commercial ventures' expansion and profitability, and affected the well-being of people.

Only 55.4% of Nigerians had access to electricity in 2020, according to data published by the World Bank. It means half of the country's population continues to live without power.

Furthermore, Nigeria has the lowest access to electricity globally, with approximately 92 million people out of the country's 200 million population lacking access to power, according to the Energy Progress Report 2022.

The latest report on Nigeria's electricity situation covering 2020, pointed out that access to electricity remained poor because electrification advances failed to keep pace with population growth.

The report, developed in partnership with the International Energy Agency, International Renewable Energy Agency, United Nations Statistics Division, World Bank, and World Health Organisation, stated Nigeria is followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (72 million), Ethiopia (56 million), and Pakistan (54 million) in terms of the population with no access to electricity.

"The 20 countries with the largest access deficits were home to 76 percent of the global population living without access to electricity (or 560 million people) in 2020. Most of the top 20 deficit countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa," the report partly read, as per Punch.