Is Solar Enough? Rethinking Off-Grid Energy in West Africa

As West Africa seeks scalable solutions to close its persistent energy access gap, governments and industry leaders are rethinking the role of off-grid and decentralised power. With grid expansion struggling to keep pace with population growth and rising demand, mini-grids, solar home systems, and captive power plants are becoming central to electrification efforts. Solar has transformed rural access, yet questions remain about long-term sustainability, the role of gas as a balancing fuel, and the commercial viability of decentralised systems for communities and investors.Dr. Abba Aliyu, Managing Director and CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) of Nigeria, examines how off-grid technologies can power West Africa's future and what it will take to create resilient, investment-ready markets across the region.From scaling productive-use energy and catalysing local manufacturing to strengthening industrial growth through captive power and balancing renewables with gas in decentralised systems, he explores how off-grid solutions can evolve from stop-gap measures into a core pillar of West Africa's long-term energy strategy.