Nigeria is severely constrained by an insufficient supply of reliable electricity. Most villages are off-grid, and those who do have access to electricity, are subject to daily blackouts. As a result, many households have come to rely on highly polluting and hazardous forms of energy, including wood, charcoal and kerosene, to cook and to light their homes. This has a considerable impact on the villager's health and the climate, and is driving deforestation at an alarming rate.
The Coalition’s Finance initiative is providing technical assistance to Nigeria’s Standard Microfinance Bank in order to develop its capacity for energy lending to households. Through this project, the Coalition aims to support scalable and affordable financing mechanisms for clean, off-grid energy that can accelerate the country’s transition to low-emission household energy solutions.
Access to clean energy is an important step to achieving sustainable development in Nigeria, where 57% of an estimated 130, 900 child deaths due to acute lower respiratory infections is attributable to household air pollution.
Emitting large amounts of air pollutants such as black carbon, fuels traditionally used for cooking and lighting are the main sources of household air pollution in Nigeria. In addition to their heavy health and environmental costs, these fuels are also often expensive and unreliable. Kerosene for example, a subsidized fuel commonly used for lighting, is often in short supply and ends up being sold on the black market at prices most families cannot afford.
Making clean energy more widely available to end users, especially to households located in remote places, remains a challenge, as financing options must be attractive to microfinance institutions and affordable for consumers.
Experience in other countries has shown that solar lighting sold on credit can result in immediate savings for households when compared to the cost of dirty fuels such as kerosene.
By providing technical assistance to Standard Microfinance Bank, the Coalition’s Finance initiative aims to build its capacity to provide attractive financing models that help Nigerian households purchase renewable lighting and cooking technology.
The Coalition is working with Standard Microfinance Bank to identify the best approaches for expanding its energy lending. This includes:
Lead Partner: A Coalition partner with an active role in coordinating, monitoring and guiding the work of an initiative.
Implementer: A Coalition partner or actor receiving Coalition funds to implement an activity or initiative.
The UNEP Denmark Technical University Partnership (UNEP DTU) on behalf of CCAC, facilitated the South-South Learning Exchange workshop focused on clean energy (lighting and cooking) end...
This document is the meeting summary of the official launch of Nigeria’s Climate and Clean Air Coalition projects.
CCAC in partnership with U4E endeavours to reduce black carbon emissions by transitioning to alternative clean and sustainable lighting through policy support and advocacy in high-impact...
This presentation focused on two business models for providing off-grid solar solutions comparing IDCOL Bangladesh and pay-as-you-go in Kenya as case studies.
Standard Microfinance Bank (SMB) is a community microfinance institution operating in Adamawa state in northern Nigeria. Francis exposed the challenges faced in access to energy in Adamawa and how...
