In 2025, Nigeria’s wealthiest commercial leaders are accelerating their shift away from oil, signalling a decisive pivot to renewable vitality startups, in particular off-grid solar, electric autos (EVs), and battery-swapping infrastructure. This constructing isn’t driven completely by environmental idealism. For Nigeria’s billionaire class, it’s about scale, necessity, and first-mover advantage in a sector that promises each and each monetary and social returns.
A Fresh Playbook for Vitality Investment
For a long time, oil was as soon as the principle route to vast wealth in Nigeria. Alternatively, on the present time various forces are rewriting that playbook – the volatility of world oil markets, power vitality deficits, surging diesel charges, and firm authorities policy nudges toward sustainable picks. With Nigeria’s Renewable Vitality Master Idea concentrated on a 10% renewable share by 2025, fresh funding avenues are opening up rapidly.
Billionaires like Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Femi Otedola, and Abdulsamad Rabiu are quietly yet aggressively constructing fresh portfolios in renewable vitality. Their investments are now shaping a sector that, unless lately, was as soon as dominated by Development finance institutions (DFIs) and affect investors.
The Off-Grid Magnet
Nowhere is billionaire exercise extra evident than within the off-grid solar sector. The explanations are now no longer some distance-fetched. Nigeria’s national grid is notoriously unreliable, with over 80 million other folks missing compile entry to to consistent electricity. SMEs, which fable for roughly half of of Nigeria’s GDP, are crippled by frequent blackouts and rising diesel charges (up over 500% since the 2023 subsidy removal).
In April 2025, Arnergy, a main solar vitality startup, raised $18 million in Sequence B funding led by CardinalStone, with earlier backing from Step forward Vitality Ventures, an funding community linked to Bill Gates. Arnergy specialises in pay-as-you-shuffle solar options for businesses and rural communities, a market that is now rising at a double-digit annual fee.
Arnergy’s CEO, Femi Adeyemo, describes the sector that is winning over billionaire investors as a necessity for commercial progress in on the present time’s economic system:
“When we started the commercial, we damaged-down to situation solar as a technique to compile uninterrupted vitality, now no longer basically to effect money. It wasn’t section of a commercial conversation”, Adeyemo said. “Now it’s, because we can clearly present customers how our systems effect them month-to-month, whether the usage of petrol, diesel, or even the grid.”
One other instance is Inexperienced Village Electrical energy (GVE), led by Ifeanyi Orajaka, which delivers mini-grid solar to underserved communities. Analysis comparing mini-grid deployment in Kenya and Nigeria point out that household incomes have confidence quadrupled in some beneficiary communities, while health and instructional outcomes have confidence moreover improved. It’s this mixture of business viability and immense-based mostly totally affect that’s attracting gigantic money.
EVs and Battery Swapping – Transport’s Subsequent Frontier
Whereas solar vitality is addressing Nigeria’s vitality disaster, the nation’s transport sector is undergoing a soundless revolution. Startups like MAX are the usage of EVs and battery-swapping technology to disrupt commercial transportation.
In 2021, MAX.ng, now branded to MAX, closed a $31 million Sequence B spherical to scale its electric automobile and battery-swap community for the gig economic system. Its model enables riders and drivers to purchase EVs and swap batteries at strategically positioned hubs, thereby slashing downtime and running charges.
The economics are compelling. EVs, paired with battery-swapping infrastructure, can lower the price of transportation by as a lot as 40% compared to petrol and diesel picks. MAX isn’t by myself. Spiro, an African mobility extensive, partnered with YourRider in April 2025 to expand Nigeria’s battery-swap infrastructure, making EV adoption handy for hundreds of riders.
These investments are now no longer merely experimental. China’s BAIC Neighborhood, one amongst the area’s finest EV manufacturers, is in evolved talks with the Vitality Commission of Nigeria (ECN) to localise battery-swap technology.
Nigeria is transferring to walk green innovation thru crude-border collaborations, in response to Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi, who heads the ECN. He eminent that the nation is actively exploring partnerships
Coverage, Institutional Capital, and a Fresh Funding Blueprint
designed to come sustainable technologies and industry progress.
In March 2025, the authorities earmarked ₦151.9 billion to roll out electric buses, tricycles, and charging stations all the strategy in which thru the North-East. This funding kit aims to lower carbon emissions and carry electric mobility to communities which have confidence historically lacked compile entry to to orderly transportation options.
Development finance institutions, notably the World Bank and AfDB, have confidence committed $80 million to pork up off-grid solar loan products and companies for SMEs and rural communities. Solar King, a pacesetter in pay-as-you-shuffle solar, is already deploying these funds, enabling extra Nigerians to finance solar with native-forex loans.
Several international and domestic banks, including Société Générale, Afreximbank, and Equitane, have confidence injected over $100 million into Spiro’s EV rollout all thru Africa, with Nigeria as a central market. DFIs have confidence co-invested with Nigerian billionaires in Husk Vitality’s $5 million hybrid mini-grid expansion, extra highlighting the appetite for blended finance models.
The Billionaires Level of view
For Nigeria’s wealthiest, the attraction of renewable vitality is twofold. First, it serves as a hedge against the hazards of overexposure to oil and fuel. 2nd, it affords lengthy-interval of time, defensible money flows in sectors with massive unmet build a query to. Tony Elumelu’s Heirs Holdings, to illustrate, is increasingly desirous about vitality sector affords, pairing legacy oil sources with investments in solar, hydro, and orderly-tech startups.
Aliko Dangote’s hobby in renewables, while gentle dwarfed by his cement and refinery operations, is unmistakable. Dangote Industries has signalled its intent to enter colossal-scale fertiliser and solar vitality manufacturing, in search of synergies all thru the vitality and agriculture designate chain.
Femi Otedola, as soon as synonymous with petroleum advertising, has sold off most essential fuel sources to take care of vitality generation and renewables. His funding in Geregu Vitality is now complemented by partnerships in solar grid infrastructure, and exploratory strikes into electric transport.
Challenges on the Boulevard Forward
The sphere’s promise does now no longer obscure its hurdles. Nigeria’s grid remains unstable, and there’s a pressing have to localise battery production and part offer chains. Without this, designate advantages would maybe also honest evaporate as global build a query to for lithium and batteries intensifies. Coverage possibility and forex volatility persist, although each and each the authorities and private sector are showing increased alignment than ever.
Constructed-in public-private models are gentle of their early phases of constructing. Partnerships between distribution firms, comparable to Ikeja Electrical, and private solar operators to make charging hubs are a step forward, but they require increased scale and coordination.
