The Nigerian Agricultural Bank, Bank of Agriculture and the African electricity supplier Daystar Power have entered into a comprehensive cooperation for rural electrification in Nigeria.

The cooperation includes the supply of solar power to the bank branches as well as a concept for the supply of electricity to rural Nigeria.

Since 1972, the Bank of Agriculture has been Nigeria’s leading financial institution committed to rural development. The cooperation partner Daystar Power is a foundation of the Africa Venture Builder Sunray Ventures of the German founders Christian Wessels and Jasper Graf von Hardenberg.

 The Nigerian Bank of Agriculture is a state-owned bank. As part of its mandate, the bank lends to support relevant activities in the agricultural production chain.

The cooperation agreement was signed in the presence of the Deputy Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Nigeria, Regina Hess, and the Senior Ministerial Council of the Internationalization Department of the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy and Technology, Ulrich Rieger. As part of the collaboration, Daystar Power will install solar power systems at the Bank of Agriculture’s 158 locations and develop and operate solar power solutions for rural areas in Nigeria.

Christian Wessels, Managing Director of Sunray Ventures says:

“In Nigeria there is a large gap between electricity production and demand. The rural population in particular suffers from a lack of reliable electricity supply, which has a negative impact on agricultural productivity. By supplying Nigeria’s population with clean solar power, Daystar Power enables increased productivity and higher crop yields through better cooling. In this way we contribute to increasing prosperity for the local population.”

The Deputy Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Nigeria, Regina Hess, says: “The recently agreed cooperation offers a great perspective for Nigeria and is a forward-looking signal for further projects of this kind. We very much welcome projects of private-sector cooperation to promote African development.”

Ulrich Rieger, Head of the Internationalization Department of the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy and Technology, says: “The secure supply of electricity is central to Nigeria’s sustainable development. That is why we particularly support cooperation between Bavarian companies that are active in Africa and thus make a contribution to economic, social and ecological development”.

The Managing Director and CEO of the Bank of Agriculture, Kabir Mohammed Adamu, says: “The Nigerian government has set itself a target of 30% of renewable energies in the national energy mix by installing new solar plants with a capacity of 30 GW by 2030. Our cooperation with Daystar Power will help us achieve this goal.”