The World Bank plans to help fund 1,000 solar power mini grids to bring electricity to the 86 million Nigerians without access to it.

Reuters reports that bank president Ajay Banga revealed the plan on Saturday while visiting the site of a grid near Abuja.

He said the project would be a joint effort of the bank, Nigerian authorities, and the private sector.

Around 150 mini grids have already been built.

“We are putting another 300, but our ambition with the government is to go all the way to 1,000,” he said. “We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that are being invested.”

He added that the World Bank would offer pump-priming capital to get the process started, rather than funding the entire programme.

Mini grids typically range from a few kilowatts to up to 10MW, enough to power around 200 Nigerian households.

World Bank data shows that in sub-Saharan Africa, 568 million people lack access to electricity. Globally, nearly 8 out of 10 people without electricity live in Africa.

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