Developing Nigeria’s EV infrastructure

Nigeria’s electric vehicle (EV) market is still in its early stages, but it is growing, and reliable charging infrastructure will be essential to further its expansion. The country had an estimated 20,000 EVs by the end of 2025, with early adoption concentrated in two- and three-wheelers, commercial fleets, ride-hailing vehicles, and other high-utilization segments. Battery swapping is expanding, and some operators are already pairing charging sites with solar and battery storage to improve reliability where grid service is weak. 

Nigeria’s EV market can move from early deployment to scale by honing targeted policy, stakeholder coordination, charging infrastructure, and finance in place, This report models two adoption pathways: a business-as-usual case that still requires a steady build-out of charging and swapping sites, reaching about 1500 installations by 2040  and 24,000 by 2060; and an optimistic case in which stronger policy support, faster infrastructure deployment, and deeper market uptake raise that requirement to about 35,000 sites by 2040 and 207,000 by 2060. In both scenarios, battery-swapping stations will account for most of the early build-out, while plug-in charging for all vehicles will expand as commercial four-wheelers and other vehicle segments grow. 

This report proposes a policy-led approach in which the policy package centers on the EV charging roadmap, tariffs, land access, permitting, standards, and coordination across institutions, while finance closes the remaining commercial gap through demand aggregation, viability-gap support, risk-sharing instruments, and project finance for assets with an operating record. 

Implementation will require coordinated action from government agencies, electricity regulators and distribution companies, state institutions, and financiers. Key actors include the Presidential Initiative on CNG and EV (Pi-CNG & EV), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), state electricity regulators, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), electricity distribution companies (DisCos), state transport and public-private partnership institutions, and financiers each covering a different part of the deployment chain. Collectively, these institutional and financing actors can create the conditions for moving charging infrastructure to bankable deployment at scale. 

Acknowledgements

RMI would like to thank David I. David of the Clean Technology Hub and Umar Muhammed of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission for their contributions to this report.