00:00When Gladys Atema Igomo started farming, authorities in Nigeria had scrapped fuel subsidies.
00:13With no electricity to run her operations, she faced rising petrol costs of nearly $100
00:20a week until she turned to solar irrigation.
00:24Before the solar was installed, we were only growing crops during the rainy season and sparsely growing during the dry season where we get the water boards to just irrigate.
00:39But with the solar, we're able to cover large areas now because the borehole that we have is powered by solar.
00:48And then we're able to pump this water to storage tanks or directly to the plants in large areas, even to the greenhouse.
01:01Nigeria has one of the world's largest electricity access deficits, with 55% of the population having grid access and only 24% in rural areas, as per a World Bank report.
01:15The alternative has long been seen to be diesel generators, which are equally expensive to run due to high fuel costs.
01:25And so the shortfall has been fueling solar demands.
01:29Research from Ember Energy, a think tank that aims to accelerate clean energy transition with data and policy, shows that Africa imported more than 15,000 megawatts of solar panels in 12 months leading up to June 2025, a 60% jump.
01:50Nigeria's share of imports exceeded 1,700 megawatts, second only to South Africa.
01:57We have experienced over 35% increments in people requesting for solar installations, and we have actually carried them out, and also for solar pumps.
02:08So this has actually helped us to scale our business at a level where we are looking at having more growth and more progress.
02:21Most solar panels are increasingly being preferred to power plants, pumps, mini grids and rural businesses.
02:30In the rural communities, it's not easy for you to get a petrol station or a filling station.
02:36So most of what they come across is black market.
02:40But when you have the solar panels, as they have the solar panels at hand, it helps to make them more productive.
02:47When we look at it side by side for five years, definitely you find out that how much you are spending on fuel is actually more than what you have invested into the solar system.
02:59Nigeria is promoting solar through initiatives like the Nigerian Rural Electrification Project.
03:06The trend mirrors Africa's wider push for renewables, critical for food security and climate resilience.
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