Nigeria needs $23bln to end energy poverty

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Vice President Kashim Shettima, has said that Nigeria would need over $23 billion to expand energy access and connect millions of Nigerians who are still living in energy poverty.

Shettima, who spoke in Abuja on Tuesday during the flag-off of the Nigeria Renewable Energy Innovation Forum (NREIF) 2025, organised by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), an agency under the Federal Ministry of Power, said Nigeria’s energy transition presents an investment opportunity of over $410bn between now and 2060.

Tribune Online reports that NREIF 2025 is an initiative designed to foster collaboration among policymakers, investors, entrepreneurs and innovators in the country’s clean energy sector.

He said, “This is an invitation to establish Nigeria as the hub for renewable energy manufacturing in Africa. Nigeria’s energy transition presents an investment opportunity of over $410 billion between now and 2060. Of this, more than $23 billion is required to expand energy access and connect the millions of Nigerians who still live in energy poverty.

“But beyond access lies our grander ambition, which is to deliver a power system capable of 277 gigawatts of total installed capacity by 2060. This ambition demands more than investment. It demands innovation, local capacity and commitment.”

According to the vice president, Nigeria’s path to achieving a sustainable energy future must be driven not only by ambitious policies but also by the ability to transform ideas into practical solutions that guarantee availability, affordability and sustainability for every Nigerian. He assured investors, development partners and other stakeholders at the forum of President Tinubu’s commitment to consolidating policy foundations that would lead to a renewable energy market that is self-sustaining.

“We are enhancing incentives for local manufacturing, streamlining regulatory frameworks and deepening collaboration with state governments, investors and development partners to de-risk private capital and accelerate the emergence of a self-sustaining renewable energy market,” Shettima added.

The vice president also stated that over $400 million in new investment commitments had been mobilised into Nigeria’s renewable energy manufacturing value chain through engagements facilitated by the forum saying the investments would fund the establishment of solar panels, smart meters, battery storage and recycling facilities which will create over 1,500 direct jobs across multiple states.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, earlier in his remarks, described NREIF as a new chapter in Nigeria’s energy transformation pathway which showed the role of innovative partnership in targeting significant amount of local solar energy production capacity.

The minister described the Integrated National Electricity Policy as a comprehensive sector-wide policy framework aimed at strengthening gains recorded in the sector.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO), Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Abubakar Aliyu, said the NREIF is a forum that connects policy and vision with research efforts as well as accelerate Nigeria’s aspirations to developing a sustainable green energy ecosystem adding that Africa cannot be left behind in the global energy transition.

Aliyu described NREIF as Nigeria’s bold and energetic step towards the actualisation of the country’s goals in global energy transition.