Dimly lit and stuffy classrooms stir with life every morning as children file into schools across Nigeria, where many buildings lack access to the national electricity grid. In Ibadan’s Excellent Moral School, founder Muyideen Raji laments the impact on learning, stating, “Education has gone digital, and there’s no way we can give the students the best of what they need without electricity.”

Even in grid-connected areas, frequent outages force reliance on costly gasoline and diesel generators. Lorat Nursery and Primary School headteacher Abdulhakeem Adedoja notes, “We cannot even put our gadgets to use because there’s no electricity around us,” with computers gathering dust due to the power shortage. The situation has driven families to relocate, threatening the school’s viability.

Nigeria’s power capacity remains a mere 8,000 megawatts, with average supply less than 4,000 megawatts—significantly below the needs of its population. For small businesses, this results in exorbitant costs for alternative power. Ebunola Akinwale, owner of Nature’s Treat Cafe, spends approximately $1,700 monthly on backup generators. “Some months, it doesn’t feel like I’ve made any profit,” she says, highlighting the ripple effect on her suppliers’ costs as well.

Despite abundant sunshine, major solar projects face financing challenges, leaving millions to adapt to life with unreliable electricity. Akinwale contemplates shifting her business model to reduce dependency on power, indicating potential branch closures and increased focus on online sales and deliveries.