NEWS

Nearly 500,000 households and businesses in underserved communities across Nigeria are expected to gain access to reliable, renewable electricity through a new initiative led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, in partnership with Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries. The program will help scale off‑grid and distributed energy solutions, enabling economic activity, strengthening small enterprises, and supporting job creation across local value chains.

The initiative supports five Renewable Energy Service Companies (RESCOs)—Darway Coast Nigeria Limited, GVE Projects Limited, Prado Power Limited, PriVida Power Limited, and StarTimes Energy—each playing a critical role in expanding last‑mile power access in communities that remain disconnected from the national grid.

To enable this expansion at scale, IFC and Norfund are providing a combined financing package of up to US$83.2 million, as part of the World Bank Group’s broader effort to accelerate energy access across Africa. This support includes US$35.3 million of concessional debt from the IDA Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility and IFC’s Concessional Capital Window.

Together, these projects represent a total estimated capital expenditure of US$271 million, enabling the rollout of 315 solar hybrid mini grid sites and connecting 2.9 million people to electricity.

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