Driving up PICO, SHS & Cookstove Adoption Through Churches in Nigeria.

The bane of energy access remains that those who need the most can’t afford it.

According to the World Bank — (assuming a 200m Nigerian population) about 87 million Nigerians lack access to electricity.

On the other hand, Nigeria is one of the most religious countries in the world and the country is believed to have the largest church population in Africa, estimated at about 80 million.

Obviously, this doesn’t mean 80m of the 87m lacking electricity are Christians but it points to the potential impact churches can have in closing the energy gap in Nigeria.

Church as a Channel

No doubts, some sensitization on clean energy already happens in churches but beyond that, what if we leveraged the giving culture of the church to drive adoption? If we agree that energy is essential to life, we can agree that gifting power can be just as helpful as gifting food, clothes or shelter.

So imagine that PICO solar, cookstoves and SHS companies partner with churches to run a gifting scheme where members can donate units to other members in need. It’s not impossible given how widespread churches are in Nigeria.

Execution is largely the church’s responsibility but here’s how you can play an active role as a brand in any of the listed categories.

• Design communication around a specific goal: e.g. 10,000 lights or 5000 Cookstoves or 1000 Solar Home Systems. I’d say to position the SHS as Solar Business Systems for small shop owners.
• Make contributions tangible: tie pledges to product units and not sums of money e.g. Gift a Lumos vs. contribute N4000 monthly to a member.

• Visualize the engagement: Create a visual system for members to see how they are supporting. E.g. as part of weekly announcements, provide an infographic displaying a snapshot of contributions. Depending on the church, you can also encourage recognition of members or groups that contribute the highest number of units per week.

Amplify the impact: Create video testimonials featuring church members who are beneficiaries and are open to sharing their experience.

All of these seemingly tiny activities can have significant impact on contributions, and in effect, adoption.

Christmas is almost upon us and a good time to give gifts, also a good time to launch a church gifting scheme, because in the spirit of Christmas, there’s a lot more emphasis on spreading joy. The psychological impact of that is, at the point a donor considers gifting members, it won’t be so much about the price but about putting a smile on people’s faces.