Schneider Electric SE is stepping up calls for private capital to flow into power projects for West African health facilities, arguing that donor-funded pilots alone won’t close a persistent electricity gap that leaves hospitals without reliable refrigeration for vaccines or power for surgical care.
The French energy management group used a panel discussion in Abuja to press its case, sending Tolutope Dada, its regional head of access to energy for West Africa, to share the stage with the chief executive of Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency and the World Health Organisation’s lead on climate, health and environment.
The session examined how unreliable power undermines health service delivery across the region, from vaccine cold chains to diagnostics.
Dada’s message centered on financing structures rather than technology. Renewable energy projects aimed at health facilities, she argued, need to move past donor-subsidised demonstrations and toward commercially viable investments, deals that spread risk across government, private capital and development partners through blended-finance arrangements.
The push comes as Schneider Electric scales up a program with a 17-year track record. Its Access to Energy initiative, launched in 2009, has reached more than 61 million people globally, the company said, surpassing an original target of 50 million beneficiaries. Schneider is now targeting 100 million people by 2030.
