AI-Powered Solar Streetlights Could Unlock $1.26 Billion for Lagos-Calabar Highway

Thousands of AI-driven, solar-powered streetlights could finally provide the financing needed to complete Nigeria’s long-delayed Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

British greentech firm Conflow Power Group, in partnership with Nigerian infrastructure company Mora Energy, is discussing plans with the Nigerian government to deploy 28,000 “iLamps” along the 700km highway. Each iLamp functions as a solar-powered streetlight and a node in a distributed AI computing network.

Equipped with Nvidia AI processors, the streetlights can process data for AI providers such as OpenAI, generating up to $4,500 annually per unit. If fully deployed, the iLamps could bring in an estimated $1.26 billion per year to support construction costs.

Stanley Chuka-Umeora, founder of Mora Energy, said the iLamp solution represents “genuinely innovative thinking,” addressing financing, security, and communications infrastructure simultaneously. Zainu Goba, CEO of iLamp Africa, noted that the solar-powered units would reduce operational costs while creating a new revenue stream to attract private investment.

Beyond revenue generation, the iLamps offer high-efficiency LED lighting, surveillance cameras, vehicle recognition, emergency response systems, public connectivity, and environmental monitoring—all powered entirely by solar energy. The initiative could also position Nigeria as a regional hub for AI infrastructure by enabling local processing of AI services.

First proposed in the 1970s, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway connects nine coastal states and is expected to unlock trade, tourism, and economic growth across southern Nigeria. Despite strategic importance, only $747 million has been secured of the estimated $11–12.5 billion total cost, leaving a funding gap of more than $10 billion.

The iLamp project offers a potential solution to the highway’s chronic financing challenges while bringing cutting-edge technology to Nigerian communities. Discussions with the government and project partners are ongoing to formally integrate the system into the highway’s construction plan.