Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa and a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It has a surface area of 1,267,000 square kilometres (km2), and population of 16 million with an annual growth rate of 3.3%.
The energy balance in dominated by biomass, which represents 79% of total energy consumption and meets 83% of household energy needs, followed by petroleum products (18%) and mineral coal for electricity generation (3%). Renewables other than biomass remain negligible at less than 1%.
Off-grid renewable power can meet the demand in currently unserved rural areas. Niger, still in the early stages of building its energy infrastructure, has the oppor- tunity to develop and invest in its energy system in a planned and systematic manner. At the moment, the rural elec- trification programme relies largely on international donors. However, Niger has begun to allocate funding to meet the cost of implementing decentralised renewable technologies for a range of social develop- ment needs. This effort could be extended to productive sectors in rural areas, since renewable energy systems, with their flex- ibility and scalability, are especially well- suited to meeting rural energy demand.
