A pioneering $3.2 million energy project in Nigeria is demonstrating a viable model for other emerging markets. The initiative, focused on solar mini-grids, overcame initial resistance from distribution companies that had long viewed the technology as too risky to integrate into their networks.
This perception shifted when the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) provided critical seed capital and technical expertise to absorb the initial risks. The pilot’s success prompted regulators to change course, mandating that utilities source a portion of their supply from renewable energy.
This policy shift, in turn, unlocked significant further investment. The World Bank committed $177 million—$127 million to expand the mini-grid approach and an additional $50 million dedicated to productive-use technologies like irrigation pumps and cold storage. What was once a fringe concept is now becoming mainstream within Nigeria’s energy system.
Nigeria’s experience serves as a replicable blueprint for Africa and the Global South. It demonstrates how targeted, well-structured interventions can break market logjams, attract large-scale finance, create livelihoods, and reduce emissions. This is critically important for a continent where 600 million people still lack electricity.
“We take risks where markets are stuck, we embed data and technical expertise to prove what works, and we design with governments and communities so that successful pilots can scale into systems change,” said Tulika Narayan, GEAPP’s chief impact officer. “Our work in Nigeria shows how relatively modest sums of capital can be catalytic.”
This partnership-driven approach is being scaled across Africa. GEAPP has contributed $4.2 billion to 49 projects that are either deployed or ready for deployment. These initiatives are projected to improve energy access for 31 million people, support 727,000 jobs, and avoid 88 million tons of CO₂ emissions. This effort supports “Mission 300,” a joint World Bank and African Development Bank initiative aiming to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.
