Energy

Digital backbone for a $750m energy access program, from Nigeria to 21 countries

Program design, delivery and monitoring on one platform

A blue stat slide with four figures: "$750m program powered end to end," "$100m+ saved in Nigeria's first two years," "250+ private companies and the government on one platform," and "21 countries in the regional rollout."
ClientWorld Bank Group (funder) · Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Nigeria
TagsAfrica · Multi-country · Energy · Planning · Implementation · Monitoring

VIDA works with the World Bank as a funder and with Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency on the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) program. Across this four-year program, now in its second year, VIDA’s data and software platform supports the full life cycle: the design of the loan arrangement, implementation, and ongoing monitoring. The approach has proven successful in Nigeria and is now being replicated across a regional program expected to reach 21 countries.

 

Planning

VIDA’s data and platform informed the design of the loan arrangement, including a geographically differentiated subsidy. Under this structure, companies receive a higher subsidy for electrifying communities that are harder to reach, so payment reflects the difficulty and commercial viability of each connection. A flat subsidy produces the opposite incentive: developers concentrate on the least costly areas and absorb a disproportionate share of available funds. In Nigeria, the differentiated structure has saved more than $100m of a $750m program within its first two years of implementation.

A VIDA satellite map for "DARES Nigeria - Developer Platform," showing SAS subsidy levels across the country color-coded by region: red for Level 1 (40%) mostly in the north, yellow for Level 2 (25%) across the central belt, and blue for Level 3 (15%) concentrated in the southwest, with a legend in the corner.

Implementation

The platform serves as the shared source of market intelligence for the government and more than 250 private electrification companies. Developers use VIDA’s data to identify and select sites continuously as they build, while the government uses the same platform to appraise the proposals those companies submit. The entire market, public and private, operates from a single evidence base.

A VIDA site detail view for "Site ID ABC-DEF-1234" in the "DARES Nigeria - Developer Platform," located in Plateau state. The left panel shows subsidy information (mini-grid and mesh-grid subsidy tiers, high SAS subsidy), settlement details (500 buildings, population 2,170), accessibility (7.6 km to main road, 50.2 km to nearest hub), and socio-economic indicators. The satellite map shows a settlement outlined in blue with color-coded buildings. A "Filters" panel is open on the right, showing a PBG grant eligibility filter set to "Yes."

Monitoring

The platform tracks national progress and the electrification footprint of each participating company. This allows the government to observe how subsidy is translating into connections delivered, and to adjust incentives accordingly.

A VIDA dashboard for "Nigeria - DARES Management" (All Technologies), showing 9.66M electrified population, 48.3 MW installed PV, and $392.4M committed subsidy, split by Standalone Solar, Mini-Grids, and Mesh-Grids. Below are connections-by-customer and by-technology donut charts (1.94M each), plus a connections-over-time chart with an open tooltip showing 176,419 total connections as of Aug 28, 2025. The satellite map of Nigeria is dotted with yellow (solar) and blue (mini-grid) markers, with the "Layers" legend expanded.

The World Bank team responsible for scaling both the differentiated subsidy mechanism and the underlying digital platform has extended the model regionally. Phase 1 is now live in four countries: Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Central African Republic and Benin. Regional DARES is expected to reach 21 countries over time.