Challenge Sector 04 · Problem statement
Clean & Affordable Energy
Help underserved households, businesses and community services identify, afford and use clean energy reliably.
Problem context
The reality facing communities
Households, small businesses and essential services in Nigeria’s unserved and underserved communities struggle to find and afford suitable clean-energy options, understand their energy requirements and manage unreliable systems. Upfront costs and limited payment flexibility restrict access, while inadequate consumption and system-performance information, maintenance support and local energy-demand data weaken reliability, planning and productive use.
Challenge question
“How might we use accessible and affordable ICT solutions to help underserved households, businesses and community services in Nigeria identify and afford suitable clean-energy services, use them reliably and efficiently, and make better-informed decisions about local energy needs?”
Your solution should respond clearly to this question and show how it can work in an unserved or underserved Nigerian community.
Illustrative angles and opportunities
Where solutions can help
You may address one of these illustrative angles, or propose an alternative solution within this Challenge Sector.
Energy Access, Affordability and Service Information
Enable practical energy-needs assessments, verified service discovery, transparent cost comparisons and suitable payment approaches, including pay-as-you-use or instalment models and shared service options.
Energy Monitoring, Reliability and Maintenance
Support usage and performance dashboards, fault detection, maintenance alerts and connections to trusted, qualified technicians; sensor and other hardware-enabled approaches may be included where feasible.
Energy Planning, Demand Coordination and Productive Use
Enable local or site-level energy-demand mapping, aggregation of seasonal demand (for example among farmers and processors) and more productive deployment and use of electricity; wider energy-sharing or grid-export systems remain optional longer-term possibilities.
Ready to respond to the Clean & Affordable Energy problem statement?
Submit your ICT-led idea, prototype or working solution before 15 November 2026 at 11:59 p.m. WAT.
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