The use of solar energy to power businesses has the potential to increase revenue for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria by more than $10 billion.
With persistent grid failure and erratic electricity supply, experts have described renewable energy deployment through off-grid solutions as critical for the country’s businesses.
A new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and All-On, a Shell-funded impact investment firm, which examined the impact of solar energy implementation on health, education, and food security outcomes, as well as the environment and commercial activity in the country, emphasized the many opportunities for solar in Nigeria.
According to the report, deploying solar to 15 to 20 million MSMEs in markets without reliable grid electricity could increase their income by $7 billion to $10 billion. That equates to roughly 40% of the country’s MSMEs’ annual earnings.
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According to the report, Nigeria’s solar off-grid market is one of the fastest growing in Africa, growing at a 22% average annual rate over the last five years.
However, regretting that the development underperformed its peers in Africa in terms of off-grid solar penetration, experts at the companies insisted that Nigeria still has a long way to go before its solar market can be considered robust.
“Nigeria’s installed photovoltaic (PV) panel per capita is only about one watt, compared to an average of eight watts in similar emerging markets, indicating a significant opportunity for further growth.” Given the country’s favorable solar deployment dynamics, Nigeria’s PV per capita could reach five to eight GW by 2030,” the group predicted.
According to the report, Nigerian Primary Health Centres (PHCs) with solar electricity saw a 60 to 70% increase in antenatal care coverage and a 40 to 60% decrease in vaccine waste.
It went on to say that at Nigerian public boarding secondary schools that had solar equipment installed, students’ study hours increased by more than 200 percent, and the number of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) teaching hours increased by 30%. Furthermore, the study found that farmers who used solar-powered cold storage reduced postharvest loss (PHL) for perishable goods by up to 30%.
According to the study, approximately 500,000 Nigerian households (1.25 percent of total households) use solar energy, resulting in the avoidance of up to 160,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Tolu Oyekan, Managing Director and Partner, BCG (West Africa), and Head of BCG Nigeria, stated in the report that installing solar in 18,000 PHCs that do not currently have access to reliable power could increase antenatal care coverage from 50 to 70 percent of pregnant women and reduce vaccine wastage by up to 20 percent with improved refrigeration.
He also predicted that installing solar panels in approximately 1,200 public boarding schools would increase average student study hours across the country from about 8 to 18 hours per week and improve ICT teaching hours by up to 60%.
“Based on current solar-powered cold storage adoption data, by electrifying 600,000 Nigerian farmers who currently do not have cold storage,” Oyekan added.
“Assuming that solar penetration among Nigerian households reaches the peer nation average of about 30 percent by 2030, an additional five million tonnes of CO2 can be avoided because household emissions would be reduced by nearly 30 percent.”
