- Title: World Bank to help fund 1,000 mini solar power grids in Nigeria
- Date: 5th August 2023
- Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (AUGUST 5, 2023) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOLAR PANELS AT THE PROJECT SITE IN PETTI, A VILLAGE WITHIN FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY VARIOUS OF WORLD BANK PRESIDENT, AJAY BANGA, TOURING SITE (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD BANK PRESIDENT, AJAY BANGA, SAYING: "We will eventually try and get about a thousand mini-grids put up across Nigeria. Today, the numbers are closer to 150, we are putting another 300 in, but our ambition with the government is to go all the way to 1000. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that are being invested from the World Bank, but then add to that, the hundreds of millions of dollars that are being invested by private entrepreneurs and the government's efforts here. Second, you're creating jobs." VARIOUS OF FARMER, FATIMA IBRAHIM, DEMONSTRATING WORK, BANGA LOOKING ON IBRAHIM BALANCING WATER ON HEAD (SOUNDBITE) (Pidgin English) FARMER, FATIMA IBRAHIM, SAYING: "Before then we used to fetch water from the stream. We used to fetch water ... Sometimes, we go to the stream and there is no water. But for the past two years, we have had solar power in our community, we now have water because we connected the solar (power) to the tank. We use (solar) to pump the water to fetch - we can do anything, we have the lights, we can wash clothes, wash melon and cassava. We can do so many things." VARIOUS OF WORLD BANK PRESIDENT IN THE HOUSE OF COMMUNITY LEADER (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD BANK PRESIDENT, AJAY BANGA, SAYING: "The problem is that many countries around the world have gone through an urban-led development model which automatically creates challenges of reaching services to the last place in a rural area. Ideas like this, change that model, don't rely on some very expensive grids to reach every village, but empower the local village, with local facilities, to change the lives of local people." WOMAN USING SWITCH WOMAN ENTERING HOUSE WOMAN TURNING ON STANDING FAN VARIOUS OF STREET WITH POWER LINE AND STREETLIGHTS
- Embargoed: 19th August 2023 20:08
- Keywords: Ajay Banga Nigeria Solar mini grid World Bank
- Location: ABUJA, NIGERIA
- City: ABUJA, NIGERIA
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Africa,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001256805082023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The World Bank is aiming to help fund the construction of 1,000 mini solar power grids in Africa's biggest economy Nigeria in partnership with the government and private sector, the lender's president Ajay Banga said on Saturday (August 5).
Nigeria, with a population of more than 200 million people, has installed a power generation capacity of 12,500 megawatts (MW) but produces a fraction of that, leaving millions of households and businesses reliant on petrol and diesel generators.
Mini-grids, made up of small-scale electricity generating units, typically range in size from a few kilowatts to up to 10 MW, enough to power some 200 households.
Speaking during a visit to a mini-grid site on the outskirts of the capital Abuja, Banga told reporters that nearly 150 mini-grids had been built, partly funded by the World Bank, to bring power to communities without access to electricity.
(Production: Abraham Achirga, Vining Ogu, MacDonald Dzirutwe) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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