The World Bank has approved $50 million to support the expansion of solar-powered agricultural technologies in Nigeria and five other African nations, aiming to enhance farm productivity, reduce post-harvest losses, and expand access to clean energy.
The funding will be channelled through the Productive Use Financing Facility (PUFF) under the Mission 300 initiative, which is jointly supported by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The programme seeks to scale up the deployment of solar-powered equipment across the agriculture value chain.
The six beneficiary countries are Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project will finance the rollout of solar-powered cold rooms, refrigerators, water pumps and grain mills essential tools that help farmers preserve produce, improve yields and expand access to markets.
Implementation of the initiative will be led by Clasp, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit organisation focused on energy efficiency and clean energy access. Development partners including the Rockefeller Foundation, which has committed a further $12 million, have also backed the programme and indicated potential for additional resources over time.
The programme builds on a successful two-year pilot phase that supported solar solutions in rural and off-grid communities. With fresh financing secured, the project will now transition to full-scale deployment to boost agricultural productivity, tackle food losses and expand clean energy access in underserved areas.
The financing is expected to have significant implications for Nigeria’s agricultural value chain, where inefficiencies such as inadequate storage, unreliable electricity and limited access to modern processing tools have long constrained productivity.
The initiative aligns with broader regional goals under Mission 300 to provide electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030, helping drive economic growth and spur climate-friendly development across the continent.
