World Bank Decries Nigeria’s Energy Poverty, To Provide Power To 200,000 MSMEs
Written by Deborah Oyinloye on February 24, 2024
The World Bank’s Managing Director for Operations, Anna Bjerde, has highlighted Nigeria’s energy poverty as a significant concern despite the country’s abundant resources. Bjerde emphasized the need for clean energy reforms and policies to address this issue.
In a piece titled “Lighting Up Africa: Nigeria Can Show the Way,” she underscored the challenges facing Africa’s electrification efforts, with over 600 million people lacking reliable electricity access on the continent. Nigeria alone has over 85 million people deprived of electricity, hindering various essential activities.
To tackle this, the World Bank has initiated the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) program, aiming to provide clean and reliable energy to 20% of the un-electrified population and over 200,000 Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) by 2030.
The program focuses on affordability and scalability, linking access solutions to productive electricity uses and catalyzing private investments in mini-grids and standalone solar solutions.
Bjerde emphasized the importance of government-led reforms and stable policy frameworks to drive the clean energy revolution, supported by concessional finance to attract private investments.
Author: Deborah Oyinloye
With an interest in media, Deborah aims to impart the lives of people positively.
