Towards Sustainable Energy in Nigeria and West Africa

This report by Good Governance Africa examines the transition to sustainable energy in Nigeria and the broader West African region. It highlights the gap between the region's abundant renewable energy potential and its current energy deficits, emphasizing the need for coherent governance, regional integration, and the urgent leveraging of fossil fuel revenues to fund green infrastructure before hydrocarbon assets become stranded.

• Nigeria faces significant systemic challenges with its electricity grid; in August 2017, although the country reached a record output of 7,000 MW, only 4,000 MW reached consumers due to dilapidated infrastructure.
• Energy access in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region is severely limited, with over 57% of its 300.7 million citizens lacking access to modern energy. Only 126.2 million people in the region have electricity access.
• Nigeria is seeing a rise in decentralized green energy projects, including solar-power for 20,000 homes via Azuri Technologies, solar use in 500 petrol stations, and embedded-power projects in the Ikeja district of Lagos. Additionally, the Nigeria-Germany Energy Partnership Project of 2016 aims to transition approximately 40 federal universities to solar supply.
• There is an urgent need for West African nations to use revenues from fossil fuels to invest in renewables before these assets become 'stranded.' Estimates suggest that 30% of oil, 50% of gas, and 80% of coal may become stranded assets due to global efforts to limit carbon emissions to 2°C.
• The transition to sustainable energy in West Africa is hindered by policy fragmentation, a lack of large-scale green investments, and a disconnect between research and energy policies.

APA

Bello-Schunemann, J. (2018). Towards Sustainable Energy in Nigeria and West Africa. Good Governance Africa. https://gga.org/issue-44-towards-sustainable-energy-in-nigeria-and-west-africa/

Chicago

Bello-Schunemann, Julia. Towards Sustainable Energy in Nigeria and West Africa. Good Governance Africa, 2018. https://gga.org/issue-44-towards-sustainable-energy-in-nigeria-and-west-africa/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bello-Schunemann |first1=Julia |title=Towards Sustainable Energy in Nigeria and West Africa |publisher=Good Governance Africa |date=16 February 2018 |url=https://gga.org/issue-44-towards-sustainable-energy-in-nigeria-and-west-africa/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{belloschunemann2018towards, author = {Bello-Schunemann, Julia}, title = {{Towards Sustainable Energy in Nigeria and West Africa}}, institution = {Good Governance Africa}, year = {2018}, month = feb, url = {https://gga.org/issue-44-towards-sustainable-energy-in-nigeria-and-west-africa/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }