How fossil fuel dependency keeps Nigerians in darkness

Despite holding 37 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and ranking as the world’s sixth-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in 2021, Nigeria has one of the lowest per capita electricity consumption rates in the world. Its economy and strong entrepreneurial sector mean that millions of commercially viable businesses are powered with expensive and/or unreliable power.

The West African powerhouse generates only about 4,000 to 5,000 megawatts of power on most days for its over 200 million citizens. This shortfall forces households and businesses to rely on diesel and petrol generators or install solar panels to keep the lights on.

In 2023, Nigerians spent NGN 16.5 trillion (about USD 10.3 billion) on off-grid power — nearly two-thirds of the government’s entire budget for the following year. Yet, that only raised electricity supply to around 20 gigawatts, meeting just over half of the country’s estimated demand.

With more than four out of five urban households and businesses relying on fossil-fuel generators, the country consumes about USD 22 billion worth of fuel every year, money that analysts say could have been redirected into renewable energy systems or grid expansion. 

Exports amid shortages

Nigeria holds more than 200 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves — the largest in Africa and ninth globally. Yet millions still face daily blackouts. This is because infrastructure gaps and mismanagement prevent effective use.

Ironically, Nigeria supplies electricity to its neighbors, Benin, Togo, and Niger, through its electricity transmission company. In May 2024, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) capped exports at no more than six percent of its grid supply to prioritize local demand. In 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reported USD 155.6 million in earnings from electricity exports.

Nigeria’s power generation capacity currently stands at about 13,625 megawatts, but only a third is effectively utilized, as daily consumption averages 4,500 megawatts.

Between 2011 and 2021, about USD 22.9 billion worth of gas capable of powering millions of homes was flared in Nigeria, according to The Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA). Gas flaring — the burning of natural gas during oil production has been ongoing globally for over 160 years and has persisted in Nigeria since the 1950s. The Nigerian Gas Flare Tracker, a satellite-based technology created by NOSDRA, recorded 301 million standard cubic feet (Mscf) of gas flared in Nigeria in 2024, enough to generate 30.1 thousand GigaWatt hours of power for up to 684 million people (40 to 50 percent of the entire African continent).

Nigeria remains the second globally in gas flaring.

Beyond waste, flaring worsens climate change. Even though Africa contributes less than four percent to global CO2 emissions, gas flaring contributes to global warming. In 2022, the BBC reported millions of tons of undeclared emissions at oil fields where BP, Eni, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell work. These organizations, which are the biggest extraction companies operating in oil and gas in Africa, are often cited as significant contributors to climate change, and have pledged under a 2015 World Bank initiative to end routine flaring by 2030, with Shell targeting 2025.

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Why Nigeria exports electricity to neighboring countries

Nigerian social media users often question why the country exports power while failing to meet domestic needs. One user noted on X:

Another questioned:

However, the Nigerian government revealed in 2020 that power exported to Niger, Benin, and Togo was based on bilateral agreements on the basis that these countries would not dam the essential waters from the River Niger, which feeds Nigeria’s key hydroelectric plants (Kainji, Shiroro, and Jebba). The arrangement echoes disputes over the Nile between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.

Nigeria’s fossil fuel dependency

Nigeria first discovered oil in Oloibiri in 1956. As the largest oil and gas producer in Africa, successive Nigerian governments have championed fossil fuels as the backbone of national development. Oil wealth has been consolidated among just a few families and effectively locked the country into an energy monoculture. 

By geographical location, Nigeria is blessed with good weather, sunshine, and mild climatic conditions, with many studies showing that the country could generate much more electricity than it needs from solar energy.

In a bid to decentralize its electricity sector, Nigeria signed the Electricity Act of 2023 into law, allowing for states, companies, and individuals to generate and manage their power independently. A service-based tariff system introduced in 2020 categorizes customers into bands A to E, offering 20 hours of power or more to Band A households at higher tariffs, while many Band E residents receive as little as four hours a day. Critics say the system entrenches inequality, turning electricity from a public service into a luxury for those who can pay. 

Nationwide, nearly half of the electricity consumed is self-generated, mostly through generators. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), generators account for 48.6 percent of electricity consumption in Nigeria, costing households and businesses more than USD 5 billion annually in fuel. The Nigeria Solar Panel Manufacturing report says that as of July 2024, about 500,000 households now use solar home systems.

Regional comparisons

Africa as a whole is a prime market for solar technologies and already has 30 percent of the critical minerals needed to manufacture low-carbon technologies. In 2021, 55.5 percent of Africa’s final energy consumption came from renewables, higher than in Europe, North America, or Asia. Morocco, for example, has achieved full electricity access using wind, solar, and some fossil fuels. Tunisia has achieved a similar reach, though it predominantly generates its electricity from natural gas. Kenya is expanding electricity access through a pay-as-you-go solar program, while Gabon reports electricity access rates above 90 percent, mainly in urban areas.

In February 2025, Nigeria secured USD 950 million in funding for its Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) program, which aims to provide power to 17.5 million people. The Rural Electrification Agency also received NGN 100 billion (USD 65 million) to solarize public institutions.

The cost of blackouts

The Nigerian power crisis has severe human costs. In August 2025, Global Voices visited University College Hospital in Ibadan, where outages forced staff to rely on generators during surgeries. In 2024, the hospital was cut off from the grid for over 100 days because of an NGN 400 million (USD 260,000) debt. 

“Surgeries were on hold. Patients were dying. It was a terrible experience,” said a nurse who requested anonymity.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that Nigeria loses USD 29 billion annually to unreliable power — about 5.8 percent of its GDP. Households and businesses spend USD 14 billion a year on generators and fuel, and manufacturers lose up to 10.1 trillion naira annually, according to the African Development Bank. These costs push up prices, fuel inflation, and stall productivity, especially in Nigeria’s growing gig economy.

The paradox of Nigeria’s energy crisis is stark. With sunshine averaging 6.25 hours daily and a solar potential of 5.5 kWh/m² daily, the country is blessed with the renewable potential to support large-scale solar infrastructure. However, as Nigeria’s youthful population is forecast to reach 392 million people in 2050, and keep growing, the country remains especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. A clean energy grid will be essential in combatting these effects. 

(GlobalVoices/NS)

This article is republished from GlobalVoices under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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