NSIA, Africa50 Launch $300m Fund for Off-grid Electricity Access in Nigeria

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Africa50 and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) have announced the commercial launch of the $300 million Nigeria Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) Fund, marking the shift from years of structuring work into active capital deployment for off-grid and mini-grid power projects across the country.
The launch was announced on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to a statement issued by NSIA on Monday.
The Fund, jointly managed by NSIA and Africa50, is designed to mobilise public and private capital into mini-grids, standalone solar systems and other decentralised electricity solutions, targeting communities and businesses that remain inadequately served by the national grid.
NSIA Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, described the launch as a signal to investors about the readiness of Nigeria’s distributed renewable energy market.
“This is a major development milestone. It is a strategic signal to markets, investors, governments and development partners that Nigeria’s distributed renewable energy market is investable, credible and ready to operate at scale,” Umar-Sadiq said.
Africa50 Group Chief Executive Officer, Alain Ebobissé, said the initiative draws on the combined strengths of its partners.
“What sets the Nigeria DRE Fund apart is the strength of the partnership: NSIA’s local market expertise, Africa50’s pan-African investment and fund management capabilities, SEforALL’s energy-access leadership, and the World Bank’s global energy thought leadership and catalytic capital. Together, we are turning Nigeria’s energy needs into investable opportunities and building a model that can scale across Africa,” Ebobissé said.
The World Bank is a founding partner in the Fund, contributing an initial $25 million through the International Development Association (IDA). The Bank’s Managing Director of Operations, Anna Bjerde, said the contribution reflects the institution’s commitment to combining funding sources to deliver real electricity connections across the continent.
The Fund is expected to contribute to Mission 300, the World Bank- and African Development Bank-led continental initiative seeking to connect 300 million people across Africa to electricity by 2030.
The initiative comes as unreliable electricity supply continues to push Nigerian households and businesses towards generators and other backup power sources, with millions still lacking access to grid electricity.
Officials at the launch, held on the sidelines of the UNGA and marked separately in Abuja, included Umar-Sadiq; NSIA Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Ijeoma Taylaur; Ebobissé; SEforALL Chief Executive Officer and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Damilola Ogunbiyi; and International Solar Alliance Director General, Ashish Khanna.
The partners said the Fund’s structure, combining local market knowledge, pan-African investment management, energy-access expertise and development-finance backing, offers a model that could be replicated in other African countries.