Determinants of Renewable Energy Adoption among Rural and Urban Populations in Nigeria.

Abstract

Nigeria faces severe energy deficits, with over 80 million citizens lacking reliable electricity despite vast renewable potential. existing studies in subsaharan africa have focused mainly on public attitudes toward renewables, offering limited behavioural insight for actionable policy. this study aims to assess renewable energy (re) adoption propensities in nigeria and examine urban–rural divergences to guide targeted interventions. the study employs open data kit (odk) to enhance data quality and uses binary logistic regression to predict re adoption behaviour. a stratified random sample of 2,500 respondents drawn from nigeria’s six geopolitical zones was surveyed. key variables include awareness, education, attitudes, income, and residential location. results show an overall re adoption propensity of 62.1%, higher in urban areas (70.2%) than rural areas (53.9%). significant predictors of adoption include urban residence (or = 1.92, p < 0.001), educational attainment (or = 1.41, p = 0.003), awareness (or = 1.28, p = 0.015), favourable attitudes (or = 1.16, p = 0.027), and income (or = 1.00, p = 0.042). Unlike kenya’s rural-led inclination toward renewables (oluoch et al., 2020), nigeria displays urban primacy, attributed to economic inequalities and grid unreliability. this study shifts from attitudinal assessment to behavioural prediction, offering a forward-looking analysis of re adoption. by integrating enhanced data collection tools and modelling behavioural propensities, the research provides actionable insights for designing targeted policies—particularly rural-focused awareness and instructional campaigns—beyond the descriptive limits of earlier studies.