More than a third of Nigerians have no access to electricity

By Emmanuel Akinwotu

Published August 12, 2025 at 4:59 AM EDT

More than a third of Nigerians have no access to electricity, and even those connected to the grid can't rely on it. Last year alone, the grid collapsed 12 times in Africa's most-populous country.

Emmanuel Akinwotu

Emmanuel Akinwotu is an international correspondent for NPR. He joined NPR in 2022 from The Guardian, where he was West Africa correspondent.

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