The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has announced a grant to Nigeria’s Sosai Renewable Energies Company for a feasibility study to connect more than 200,000 women, farmers, and rural citizens to new solar-powered minigrids in Nigerian states of Kaduna, Kogi and Plateau.
The agency helps companies create US jobs through the export of US goods and services for priority development projects in emerging economies. It also links US businesses to export opportunities by funding project preparation and partnership building activities that develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in partner countries.
“USTDA is committed to promoting inclusive economic development, and bringing clean energy solutions to rural communities is an important component of our approach,” said Enoh T. Ebong, USTDA’s zcting director.
“Women entrepreneurs like Sosai CEO, Habiba Ali, are setting a vision for Nigeria’s energy future that USTDA enthusiastically supports.”
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. The study will also create business opportunities for US equipment and services suppliers in Nigeria’s minigrid sector, while supporting up to 20 megawatts of new solar power in rural communities.
“This announcement is 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,” said Mary Beth Leonard, US ambassador to Nigeria.
Sosai CEO, Habiba Ali, believes “this USTDA grant will support a huge step forward for Nigeria in meeting its rural electrification goals, as well as kick-starting life changing projects for communities, women, general economic development and improved productivity in the agricultural sector.”
For Sosai, Ali said “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, as well as 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 minigrids and microgrids in rural and peri-urban communities using US technology. The Agency has an active portfolio of three other ongoing solar minigrid activities in Nigeria.
“Collectively,” the US government says it “expects these projects to support energy access for over 66,000 households in Nigeria and help Nigeria meet its goal of universal electrification.”
