The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded a grant to Nigeria’s renewable energy company, Sosai, for a feasibility study to connect more than 200,000 women, farmers, and rural citizens to new solar-powered mini-grids in Kaduna, Kogi, and Plateau States.
The USTDA-funded feasibility study will include site surveys, preliminary engineering, economic and financial analyses, and an assessment of the project’s likely developmental impacts on rural women.
USTDA’s study also will create business opportunities for US equipment and services suppliers in Nigeria’s mini-grid sector, while supporting up to 20 megawatts of new solar power in rural communities.
“USTDA is committed to promoting inclusive economic development, and bringing clean energy solutions to rural communities is an important component of our approach,” USTDA’s Acting Director Enoh Ebong said in the statement.
“Women entrepreneurs like (Sosai CEO) Habiba Ali are setting a vision for Nigeria’s energy future that USTDA enthusiastically supports,” she said.
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Mary Beth Leonard, US Ambassador to Nigeria, said the announcement was emblematic of the US-Nigeria relationship as the USTDA grant supports the development of energy for productive use and promotes inclusion for women and rural dwellers.
“Working together, we can solve today’s greatest challenges through projects like this,” Beth Leonard said.
For Sosai’s CEO Habiba Ali, “This USTDA grant will support a huge step forward for Nigeria in meeting its rural electrification goals as well as kick-start life-changing projects for communities, women, economic development, and the agricultural sector.
“The benefit of the USTDA grant to our company is immense, positioning us for greater growth and greater possibilities in the future.”
This project supports the US government’s Power Africa and Prosper Africa Initiatives, President Biden’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, and the global “2X Challenge” – an initiative by development finance institutions to invest in and create inclusive opportunities for women.
In Nigeria, USTDA has supported the successful roll-out of mini-grids and microgrids in rural and peri-urban communities using US technology.
The US agency also has an active portfolio of three other ongoing solar mini-grid activities in Nigeria.
“Collectively, we expect these projects to support energy access for over 66,000 households in Nigeria and help Nigeria meet its goal of universal electrification,” USTDA said in a statement.
Recall in September 2019, USTDA awarded a grant to Darway Coast Nigeria for a feasibility study that will provide reliable electricity for more than 80,000 households and businesses in Nigeria using US mini-grid technology.
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