Nigeria has agreed to $200-million deal with WeLight, a pan-African Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) company to deploy hundreds of renewable mini grids, aimed at bringing reliable electricity to millions in rural communities and those surrounding urban centres.

Africa's most populous country, seeking to increase its renewable energy share of its electricity mix from 22% to 50% and securing financing from private investments for this purpose, sees this deal as an important step in this regard.

The project backed by the World Bank and the African Development Bank will develop and operate 400 mini grids and 50 MetroGrids across Nigeria's mostly rural areas to improve electricity access to an estimated 1.5- to 2-million people and boost local economies.

WeLight, backed by major international players like Axian Group, Sagemcom, and Norfund said it signed on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nigeria's Rural Electrification Agency (REA), a government agency tasked with helping millions of Nigerians without electricity.

“This MOU not only represents a leap toward providing clean electricity to millions in Nigeria but also supports WeLight’s ambition to become a truly pan-African company,” said Romain de Villeneuve, Chief Executive Officer of WeLight in a statement.