Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will on Friday inaugurate the Solar Power Naija programme in Jigawa, commencing with the Jangefe community which will get 1,000 Solar Home Systems connections.The programme is in pursuit of the Federal Government’s Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP).

The scheme is part of a 100,000 scheme with A-SOLAR, a local solar power company implementing part of the ESP Solar Power Naija’s planned 5 million connections across the country.

The Ministry of Power through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) is the implementing public agency for the 5 million off-grid solar connections programme (Solar Power Naija).

That programme provides N140 billion in concessionary financing from the Central Bank of Nigeria and Commercial Banks for off-grid developers.

The developers will rollout mini-grids and solar home systems that will cost from N3,000 per month and up, depending on system type to provide electricity to locations all across the country.

The event marks the inauguration of 100,000 connections through a commercial partnership between A-Solar, a local developer, the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), and Sterling Bank.

The Jangefe community in Jigawa will be the first location covered by the A-Solar company and will have 1,000 Solar Home Systems installed across the community covering about 5,000 citizens.

The community will pay monthly energy payments until the systems are fully paid for at the point which there will be a transfer of ownership to each consumer in the community.

Jangefe community is in Roni Local  Government Area in Kazaure Emirate of Jigawa.

Jangefe is a rural farming community that uses the water bodies around the area for all year farming.

The economic activity in Jangefe provides the opportunity for the community to be powered and pay for consumption.

A-Solar leveraged the Roni LGA and Kazaure Emirate Council to do mass sensitisation for an understanding of the usage of the system and payment mechanisms.

Through a World Bank and REA programme called the Nigerian Electrification Programme (NEP), each connection under the Solar Power Naja programme would receive a 20 per cent rebate for the developer.

It will, therefore, allow the rates charged to consumers to be reduced by the same amount.