WeLight plans $650 million solar mini-grid expansion in Nigeria and DRC

WeLight, Africa’s largest solar mini-grid operator, has announced a $650 million expansion plan that aims to increase its service capacity tenfold across Africa, just two weeks after securing $31 million in funding to enter Nigeria.

The company operates more solar mini-grids in Africa than any other firm and is focusing its expansion in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These countries have the largest electricity access deficits in the world, presenting both significant opportunities and challenges for WeLight.

Chief Executive Officer Romain de Villeneuve told Bloomberg the company is also actively seeking a fifth country to expand into, beyond its current operations in Madagascar and Mali, where it already runs nearly 190 mini-grids serving more than 800,000 people.

The ambition is impressive. A tenfold increase in customers would allow WeLight to reach approximately eight million people, an achievement that would fundamentally alter the company’s identity and its role in Africa’s energy landscape.

To accomplish this, WeLight will need not only capital but also the operational capacity to construct and manage hundreds of additional mini-grids across some of the continent’s most logistically challenging terrains.

Why Nigeria and the DRC are the real solar markets for WeLight

WeLight’s model is centred around solar mini-grids, which are small, self-sufficient power systems designed to serve communities that are unreachable or underserved by national power grids. Instead of waiting for transmission lines to extend to remote villages, a mini-grid provides electricity directly to the people who need it, delivering power more quickly and at a significantly lower infrastructure cost.

The model has already proven successful in Madagascar and Mali. Nigeria and the DRC are of a different order of magnitude. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, with an estimated 80 to 90 million people still lacking reliable electricity access.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the second-largest country in Africa by land area and has one of the lowest electrification rates globally. Achieving success in either market would be a major accomplishment. However, succeeding in both, at the scale WeLight is proposing, would signify one of the most significant expansions in Africa’s off-grid energy sector.

Similar read: Africa’s largest solar mini-grid operator WeLight secures $31m to expand power access in Nigeria

The $31 million round, backed by the IFC and announced two weeks ago, was positioned as the entry point for Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The new $650 million expansion plan is set to transform the market entry into a fully realised operation.

In Nigeria, where inconsistent electricity supply leads to annual losses in the billions of dollars for the economy, the entry of a well-funded and experienced solar mini-grid operator indicates that the off-grid sector is no longer a temporary solution. Instead, it is becoming a significant long-term infrastructure investment.