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This case study describes RMI's efforts since 2017 to increase energy access in Nigeria through decentralized solar hybrid minigrids, community-centric ownership models, and the promotion of productive energy use in agriculture and industry.

This guide provides policymakers with a framework for designing retail tariffs and subsidies to incentivize private sector investment in mini-grids, primarily in Africa. It highlights the 'viability gap' where high costs and low rural revenues hinder commercial viability. The document details various tariff approaches (uniform, cost-reflective, and case-by-case) and subsidy structures (input, output, and auction-based), emphasizing that confidence in timely disbursement and a balance between verification and effectiveness are key to successful implementation.

The 2018 report by RMI and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) analyzes the commercial minigrid market in Nigeria, identifying it as a high-potential investment opportunity to address the fact that 55% of the population lacks electricity. Through audits of ten commercial projects, the report establishes best practices in site selection, community engagement, and owner-operator business models. It outlines a regulatory environment that is generally supportive but hindered by overlapping mandates and import barriers, and proposes specific interventions across the project development, construction, and operation phases to scale the market toward a potential annual revenue of ₦2.8 trillion (US$8 billion).