The World Bank has committed an initial $25 million to Nigeria’s newly launched $300 million Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) Fund, which is designed to attract private investment into mini-grids, standalone solar systems and other distributed power projects.
The fund, managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and pan-African infrastructure investment platform Africa50, has moved from planning and structuring into commercial capital deployment.
The World Bank’s contribution will come through the International Development Association (IDA), its financing arm for lower-income countries. The $25 million is intended to serve as catalytic capital to help attract additional financing from private investors and development institutions.
The fund targets communities and businesses that remain poorly served by Nigeria’s conventional electricity network. Its potential investment areas include mini-grids, solar home systems, commercial and industrial power projects, embedded generation and energy-storage technologies.
NSIA Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Aminu Umar-Sadiq said the commercial launch signals that Nigeria’s distributed renewable-energy market is ready for investment at scale.
“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.
Fund Use
The fund is expected to help address some of the financing constraints that have limited investment in Nigeria’s off-grid power sector, including currency volatility, uncertainty around electricity tariffs and limited access to affordable long-term naira financing.
Its managers are also expected to seek investment from pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors that have traditionally been cautious about Nigeria’s power sector. However, the launch announcement did not disclose the full amount already raised, provide a complete list of investors or identify the first projects that will receive funding.
Africa50 Group Chief Executive Officer Alain Ebobissé said the partnership combines NSIA’s local market expertise, Africa50’s investment and fund-management capabilities, Sustainable Energy for All’s energy-access expertise and the World Bank’s development-financing capacity.
The partners intend to use the Nigerian fund as a potential model for similar country-level distributed renewable-energy financing structures across Africa.
The $300 million fund is also linked to Mission 300, a World Bank and African Development Bank initiative targeting electricity access for 300 million people across sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.
The wider Mission 300 programme targets 250 million connections through the World Bank Group and another 50 million through the African Development Bank. By June 2026, more than 50 million people across 40 African countries had gained electricity access through the initiative, according to the World Bank.
Fund Size Reduced
Nigeria’s fund, however, is not itself a $300 million programme to connect 300 million people. Rather, it is a national financing platform intended to contribute to the broader continental electricity-access target.
A key issue is the fund’s change in stated size. In March 2025, NSIA, Africa50, Sustainable Energy for All and the International Solar Alliance announced a $500 million DRE Nigeria Fund. The initiative was expected to mobilise capital for mini-grids, solar home systems, commercial and industrial power, embedded generation and energy storage.
The latest announcement places the fund at $300 million, $200 million below the amount announced in 2025. The partners have not explained whether the $300 million represents a revised fundraising target, an initial commercial close or one phase of the earlier $500 million platform.
