Inside a music studio in Owerri, southeastern Nigeria, the hum of generators is gone. The studio owner, Somik Chris Ikesom, says since installing solar he rarely needs backup diesel power — about 80% of the time public electricity is irrelevant to his work. The change removed noise, fuel smell and damaging power fluctuations that had been wrecking sensitive audio equipment.
Ikesom’s studio is one small example of a wider trend: Nigeria has overtaken Egypt as Africa’s second-largest importer of solar panels, after South Africa. Panels are increasingly visible on rooftops and powering small businesses. Yet the rollout is patchy, driven more by affordability than enthusiasm.
Demand is rising, but many households and microbusinesses cannot afford the upfront cost of panels, inverters and batteries. Installers and industry analysts say the capital expenditure — often running into millions of naira for full systems — puts private ownership out of reach for large swaths of the population. For many, the real choice is between paying for solar or having no reliable power at all.
Companies are responding by shifting from selling equipment to offering electricity-as-a-service. Firms such as Lagos-based Sunhive are moving toward owning solar assets and selling power directly, targeting commercial customers, mini-grids, battery storage and electric mobility. That model can broaden access, but scaling it faces structural obstacles.
High cost of capital is a major constraint. Local bank loans can reach the low- to mid-30% range, making financing costly. Currency volatility also matters: when the naira weakens, imported components become more expensive and project economics deteriorate. At the same time, domestic manufacturing capacity remains limited. There are no Tier 1 panel producers in Nigeria yet, and local assemblers can only meet a small fraction of demand.
Policy signals have been mixed. Officials have discussed encouraging local assembly and reducing reliance on imports, and there have been temporary reliefs such as a pause on import duties for panels and accessories. But industry experts warn that abrupt import restrictions or poorly designed protectionist measures could raise consumer prices and stifle the nascent market rather than nurture it.
Global developments also feed into local prices. Changes in China’s subsidy regime for solar production, for example, could push module prices up worldwide and raise costs for Nigerian projects. Observers say Nigeria lacks a clear, deliberate industrial policy and a sustainable financing roadmap for scaling clean energy manufacturing and deployment.
Batteries are central to the appeal of solar, especially where the grid is unreliable. Lithium-based storage makes systems more useful for businesses that need steady, high-quality power. But batteries add to the upfront bill and to maintenance considerations, reinforcing the attraction of service-based models that spread costs over time.
For entrepreneurs like Ikesom, the investment has paid off in reliability and reduced equipment losses. He says he’s recouped part of his capital after two years of use, but he is candid with peers: switching to solar is costly even if it is ultimately worthwhile.
Nigeria’s solar imports and on-the-ground installations suggest growing momentum. Still, the shift from interest to broad access will depend on whether financing, industrial capacity and clear policy measures can be aligned quickly enough to make systems affordable for ordinary Nigerians. Without that alignment, solar’s rapid visibility risks remaining an uneven, income-dependent transition rather than a nationwide solution to chronic power shortages.