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Solar minigrids in Nigeria could offer major jobs boost, report finds

May 20, 2026, 8:50am EDT
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Solar power panels are seen at the Atlantic Shrimpers farm in Badagry, Lagos.
Temilade Adelaja/Reuters

Deploying more than 10,000 solar minigrids in Nigeria could create nearly 213,000 jobs, according to a new report.

Off-grid solar electricity is among the solutions the African Development Bank and World Bank are backing under their Mission 300 program to halve the continent’s energy gap: Around 600 million Africans lack access to reliable electricity. Nigeria was chosen for the study by the Africa Policy Research Institute, a Berlin-based think tank, as it has the fastest-growing market for private minigrids in sub-Saharan Africa.

Earlier this month, Renewvia Energy Corp., a US solar minigrids firm that operates in Kenya and Nigeria, said it was expanding into DR Congo, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Uganda.

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