The International Development Association announced on Friday that the World Bank’s fund for poor countries intends to credit $750 million for clean energy projects in Nigeria to boost the country’s electricity supply. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa.
According to the bank, as of 2021, over 85 million people in Nigeria did not have access to electricity, forcing homes and businesses to rely on pricey diesel and petrol generators.
More than 17.5 million Nigerians will have access to new or improved electricity supplies through the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project, which will be funded by an International Development Association credit.
“To further address the access gap, DARES will build on the achievements of the World Bank-financed Nigeria Electrification Project, 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 World Bank said.
It further stated that in addition to more than $1 billion in private funding, the project will also benefit from parallel financing of $100 million from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet and $200 million from Japan’s International Cooperation Agency.
