The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Aliyu, announced that Nigeria has secured $950 million in funding for its Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme.
Speaking on Monday in Abuja during a collaborative agreement signing ceremony with nine renewable energy companies, Aliyu highlighted the federal government’s commitment to improving power supply for the 86 million Nigerians without access to electricity.
The companies involved in the agreement include Ashipa Electric Ltd, De-Janees Concepts Ltd, Fox Power Ltd, MBH Power Ltd, Okra Solar PTY Ltd, Oando Clean Energy, Sosal Renewable Energy Ltd, and Welight Nigeria Ltd.
Aliyu revealed that the government had secured $750 million from the World Bank last year, and an additional $200 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in February 2025.
He emphasized that the government has tasked REA with making Nigeria the renewable energy hub of West Africa. “For us to make Nigeria a renewable energy hub, we need finance, projects, implementation vehicles, an operational framework, and the domestication of our value chain,” he said.
He went on to highlight Nigeria’s achievement of signing the largest public sector-funded renewable project in Sub-Saharan Africa. The $750 million DARES project has already begun, with the launch of 14 interconnected mini-grids designed to improve power reliability for underserved communities. This initiative will lay the foundation for scaling up future interventions.
Aliyu also outlined efforts to reduce governance costs, including securing N100 billion to solarize public sector institutions, with the project set to launch in the coming weeks. Additionally, advanced discussions with JICA are expected to bring in another $200 million in co-financing, boosting total DARES funding to $950 million.
The DARES programme is expected to provide electricity to 17.5 million Nigerians, with 3 million people to be served through isolated mini-grids, 1.5 million through interconnected mini-grids, and about 12 million through mesh-free and standalone solar systems.
Ademola Ogunbanjo, President and CEO of Oando Clean Energy, stated that the company is making significant investments in the sector, revealing plans to roll out 600 MW of capacity within the next year. He also mentioned that Oando is constructing a facility that will produce solar panels and recycle used panels, further contributing to the sector’s growth.
