NIGER
POWER AFRICA FACT SHEET
Power Africa has supported the development of electricity generation projects in Niger. In addition, various firms have received U.S. Embassy support to move transactions forward. The page below shows Power Africa's involvement in the country.
POWER AFRICA SUCCESS STORIES IN NIGER
A Blueprint for Rural Electrification: Building a Market for Mini-Grids in Niger
Niger has one of the lowest electrification rates in sub-Saharan Africa. Only one in seven Nigeriens have access to modern electricity services, and just four percent of rural residents have access through the national utility. Without power, there is no viable path for economic growth and development, and few prospects for people living below the poverty line.
But Niger has a plan. The Nigerien Agency for the Promotion of Rural Electrification (ANPER) developed ambitious targets to bring clean energy to rural households, thus paving the path for sustainable development. The Government of Niger created ANPER to design, implement, and monitor country-wide rural energy efforts to help Niger achieve universal rural electrification by 2035. ANPER realized that solar mini-grids offer a cost-effective, fast pathway to delivering first-time energy access to 1,000 rural villages. ANPER also knew that the country needed a robust feasibility study to attract international mini-grid developers and private sector investment.
In January 2019, with support from USAID and Power Africa, ANPER launched a nationwide feasibility study on mini-grid development, bringing Niger one step closer to its universal energy access goal.
Power Africa formed a consortium of partners, led by the U.S. small business ECODIT LLC, to join forces with ANPER in producing the Niger Mini-Grid Feasibility Study. This first-of-its-kind feasibility study proposes aligning telecommunications towers with solar mini-grids, thus improving the economics of rural electrification and attracting energy investors and developers to Niger.