On August 11, the U.S. Government’s Power Africa initiative highlighted ECODIT’s work to expand electricity access in Niger in a blog post. The post detailed ECODIT’s work to bring electricity to one of the least developed countries in the world, through the Niger Mini-Grid Feasibility Study (MGFS).  MGFS is an important part of Power Africa’s work, which fosters partnerships among technical and legal experts, the private sector, and governments from around the world to increase the number of people with access to power. Power Africa aims to add 60 million new electricity connections and 30,000 new and cleaner megawatts of power generation to sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.

From January 2019 to August 2020, MGFS worked with the Nigerien Agency for the Promotion of Rural Electrification (ANPER) to bring solar energy to roughly 100 villages in rural Niger. Niger has one of the lowest electrification rates in sub-Saharan Africa (14%), and less than 4% of rural Nigeriens have access to modern electricity services through the national utility. The Study assessed the viability of building and operating 69 mini-grids that utilize existing telecom towers in Niger as “anchor tenants” for electricity services. ECODIT led a consortium of partners, in coordination with ANPER, to perform a wide range of technical, economic, environmental, and regulatory analyses to facilitate the financing, construction, and operation of mini-grids and allow key partners to strategically leverage resources from bilateral, multi-lateral, and private sector actors for the development of mini-grids that could help electrify up to 20,700 households.

“ECODIT is delighted to be recognized by Power Africa for its efforts to bring clean energy to Niger,” said ECODIT President Joseph Karam. “We look forward to a continued partnership with Power Africa to positively transform the energy sector in sub-Saharan Africa.”

ECODIT is an American small business with 27 years of experience working with governments, businesses, and local communities to advance environmentally and socially responsible development around the world. The firm has implemented a great variety of energy projects, including the ongoing Power Africa Data and Technical Support Activity, that aims to improve data collection and reporting to enable Power Africa to better achieve its energy goals. To learn more about ECODIT, visit  www.ecodit.com and follow the firm’s accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.