Lighting Africa, a joint IFC and World Bank program, is helping develop commercial off-grid lighting markets in Sub-Saharan Africa as part of the World Bank Group’s wider efforts to improve access to energy. Lighting Africa is mobilizing the private sector to build sustainable markets to provide safe, affordable, and modern off-grid lighting to 2.5 million people in Africa by 2012 and to 250 million people by 2030.

What is modern off-grid lighting? In the context of Lighting Africa, off-grid lighting systems are stand alone rechargeable electric lighting appliances or kits that can be installed by a typical user without employing a technician.