- WeLight plans to invest $650 million to expand solar mini-grid access across five African countries
- Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo will receive $450 million of that funding
- The expansion aims to grow the company’s customer base tenfold and reach one million connections by 2030
WeLight, a developer and operator of solar-powered mini-grids, plans to invest $650 million to expand electricity access across Africa, with Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo receiving the bulk of the funding
The company, which builds mini-grids for communities beyond the reach of national power networks, said the expansion is designed to grow its customer base tenfold by the end of the decade
Of the total investment, $450 million will go toward Nigeria and the DRC, while $200 million will strengthen operations in Madagascar, Mali and a fifth market yet to be announced
More than 560 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity, and Nigeria and the DRC together account for roughly 170 million of them. That gap has made both countries central targets for investors betting on scalable clean energy solutions, particularly as extending national grids to remote areas remains slow and costly
WeLight Chief Executive Officer Romain de Villeneuve said the company is targeting one million connections by 2030, though he wants to move faster
“We are prepared for the next steps,” he said. “One million connections by 2030. I would like to be a bit earlier.”
The expansion follows the International Finance Corporation becoming a WeLight shareholder last month, joining founding investors AXIAN Group, Sagemcom and Norfund
The company said the new backing will help accelerate its growth plans across the continent
A $170 million electricity gap sits between two countries
Nigeria and the DRC hold two of the world’s largest electricity access gaps, despite sizable populations and growing economies
Mini-grid systems, which combine solar panels, battery storage and local distribution networks, have become an increasingly attractive option for reaching homes, schools, health facilities and small businesses that are unlikely to get grid power soon
Wider electricity access is also expected to support entrepreneurship, boost rural industries, improve healthcare delivery and expand digital connectivity in underserved areas
Mini-grid developers have grown rapidly across the region in the past decade, though funding has often lagged behind the scale of the access gap, leaving most rural electrification programs reliant on blended public and private capital
Half the money will come from development programs
In addition, De Villeneuve said about half of the planned investment will come from dedicated renewable energy financing programs, including the World Bank-backed Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up program in Nigeria and the Mwinda Fund in the DRC. Both programs are designed to help mobilize private investment into off-grid electrification
The rest of the financing will come from equity injections, including from existing shareholders, and concessional debt
“Private money cannot finance everything,” de Villeneuve said
WeLight’s expansion comes as international development institutions step up efforts to close Africa’s electricity gap, with multilateral lenders increasingly channeling concessional financing toward distributed renewable energy as a faster route to reaching unelectrified communities than grid extension alone
