The Nigerian market has been highlighted as a major driver of the recovery in West Africa’s off-grid solar market in the latest Semi-Annual Global Off-Grid Solar Market Report, released this November by GOGLA, the global association for the off-grid solar industry.

According to the report, sales of solar energy kits and appliances in West Africa are showing renewed momentum, driven largely by Nigeria’s expanding off-grid market.

The report indicated that solar energy kit sales in West Africa rose by 22 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.

Although sales have yet to return to their 2023 peak, the increase signals a return to growth following a slowdown last year.

“Sales are picking back up in Nigeria and are potentially back on a path to growth,” GOGLA noted in its summary.

In Nigeria, where the off-grid solar market has become the region’s anchor, solar energy kit (SEK) sales in the first half of 2025 were 33 per cent higher than in the corresponding period of 2024.

The report, authored by Senior Manager, Market Insights and Data, Oliver Reynolds, and Market Intelligence Analyst, Serra Paixão, linked this growth to the early impact of the new Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) Nigeria programme, which provides subsidies to strengthen market access.

“The effects of the new subsidy programme under DARES Nigeria are starting to show,” the report stated.

The market is also undergoing a major transformation as Pay-As-You-Go sales of solar kits overtake traditional cash purchases for the first time.

GOGLA described this as “early evidence of a major shift in the market,” reflecting how flexible payment systems are expanding off-grid access to lower-income households across Sub-Saharan Africa.

While Nigeria continues to drive regional growth, other markets are facing obstacles. Burkina Faso, for instance, recorded an 83 per cent year-on-year decline in SEK sales, which the report attributed to new import regulations requiring local sourcing quotas for solar panels. “These policy changes have disrupted supply and constrained imports, affecting access expansion,” GOGLA said.

Appliance sales in West Africa are also rising, increasing by 27 per cent compared to the first half of 2024. The report credited Nigeria’s surge in fan sales for much of this growth. “Fan sales in Nigeria accompany the rise in SEK sales in the market,” the report observed. However, television sales remained flat, failing to regain the levels seen between 2022 and 2023. Sales of irrigation and cooling appliances were up year-on-year, and GOGLA noted that it “will be interesting to see in future data rounds” whether the DARES programme’s planned subsidies for productive use will create further gains.

The report also highlighted the broader influence of public support schemes across Sub-Saharan Africa. “Subsidies are a major driver of growth,” GOGLA said, “but drops observed in countries like Rwanda and Mozambique highlight why sustainable programmes and clear strategies for continuity and exit are needed.”

Overall, GOGLA concluded that 2025 could mark a turning point for West Africa’s off-grid solar sector, as PAYGo models gain ground and national subsidy programmes reshape energy access.

“Continued sales and impact data collection will be key to monitoring these trends and observing the short- and long-term effects of the subsidy programmes on markets and electricity access,” the report concluded.