Stakeholders within the renewable vitality sector have known as for stronger native options to bridge the vitality hole in Nigeria amid Africa’s minimal share of world renewable vitality funding.
The stakeholders who participated within the just-concluded Nigerian Renewable Power Innovation Discussion board (NREIF) 2025 highlighted the pressing want for Nigeria and Africa to spice up home funding in renewable vitality to drive industrialisation and job creation.
Talking throughout a panel session, the discussion board’s panel moderator, Rumundaka Wonodi, revealed that in 2024, the worldwide renewable vitality sector attracted $2.1 trillion in funding, however Africa secured solely $40 billion—simply two per cent of the whole. He additionally famous that renewable vitality deployment in Africa has been gradual, with simply 6GW added since final yr.
Wonodi urged contributors to give attention to unlocking Nigeria’s funding potential in renewables and inspired coordinated motion amongst authorities ministries and businesses. “Our discussion board is charting the course and prioritising actions for the federal government,” he mentioned, stressing the necessity for strategic collaboration.
The chief technical adviser to the Minister of Energy, Adebayo Owoloniyi, echoed the decision for higher native content material growth. He warned operators within the renewable vitality sector in opposition to over-reliance on importation, saying it undermines Nigeria’s industrialisation efforts and limits job creation.
In keeping with him, electrical energy entry have to be linked to the event of native business to make sure sustainable development.
Owoloniyi defined that the ministry’s Nigeria First coverage targeted on growing native participation in vitality initiatives and suggested that authorities subsidies be channelled into initiatives that promote industrial development and profit residents’ incomes.
The chief government officer and managing director of Infrastructure Company of Nigeria (InfraCorp), Dr Lazarus Angbazo, highlighted monetary challenges going through Nigerian buyers, significantly the shortage of entry to native forex funding.
He known as overseas currency-dependent financing unsustainable and emphasised InfraCorp’s purpose to construct market assist for long-term, sustainable investments throughout infrastructure sectors, together with vitality.
The discussion board’s insights underscore the necessity for Nigeria to unlock native sources and strengthen insurance policies to boost renewable vitality funding, serving to Africa shut its widening vitality hole.
Recall that the managing director of REA, Abba Aliyu, had on Tuesday known as for domesticating the applied sciences, industries, and capabilities required to construct a resilient renewable vitality hub.
mentioned that internationally, the vitality transition is accelerating, pushed by advances in photo voltaic know-how, battery storage, and digital vitality programs, therefore the necessity to give attention to constructing native capability.
Aliyu, talking on the Nigerian Renewable Power Innovation Discussion board (NREIF) 2025, famous that despite the fact that the African continent holds practically 60 per cent of the world’s photo voltaic sources, it at present attracts lower than three per cent of world renewable vitality funding.
“The problem earlier than us is obvious: we should convert this immense comparative benefit into aggressive power — by constructing industries, nurturing innovation, and driving the form of native worth creation that secures our place within the clear vitality economic system. For Nigeria, this second is particularly pressing.
“The theme for this yr, ‘The Nigeria First Coverage’, couldn’t have come at a greater time. It captures our collective aspiration to cultivate the applied sciences, industries, and capabilities that can energy our vitality future.
“Nigeria has deployed renewable vitality programs in hundreds of communities, establishments, and industrial clusters for years. However to safe our long-term sustainability and financial competitiveness, we should now go additional — to make sure that what we deploy is more and more designed, assembled, and manufactured in Nigeria.
“On the Rural Electrification Company, we see this shift as each a necessity and a chance,” he mentioned.
He famous that with an energetic challenge portfolio and pipeline exceeding $3 billion, spanning packages equivalent to Rural Electrification Fund (REF), Distributed Entry by Renewable Power Scale-up (DARES), Nigerian Electrification Venture (NEP) and the Nationwide Public Sector Solarisation Initiative (NPSSI), REA’s duty now extends past electrification.
The Company’s job for him is to make sure that this pipeline generates the very best attainable home worth by catalysing native industries, supporting innovators, and unlocking inexperienced jobs throughout the worth chain.
“That’s exactly why the NREIF was established — to convey collectively your complete renewable vitality ecosystem: from innovators to financiers, from academia to regulators, from producers to builders — all working collectively to make sure Nigeria captures the total worth of its vitality transition.
Additionally talking on the occasion, Adebayo Adelabu, minister of energy, mentioned that the Rural Electrification Company (REA) ‘s efforts to increase entry to unserved communities, promote mini-grids, and promote Distributed Renewable Power are reinforcing the nation’s dedication to home manufacturing and innovation.
In keeping with him, the Ministry and the REA are shifting the nationwide narrative from vitality entry to vitality industrialisation and from deployment to native worth creation collectively.
He mentioned, “Within the energy sector, the Nigeria First Coverage displays our willpower to make sure that the following technology of fresh vitality applied sciences, from photo voltaic panels to battery vitality storage programs, deployed throughout the nation proudly carry the label ‘Made in Nigeria’.
He defined that the federal authorities is pursuing a complete, multi-pronged method to reposition the Nigerian energy sector for sustainability, effectivity, and development.
This method he mentioned, spans crucial pillars which embrace laws, coverage reforms, infrastructure growth, vitality transition and entry growth, and native content material and capability growth with every designed to handle structural challenges, unlock non-public capital, and improve service supply throughout the electrical energy worth chain.
Talking on laws, the minister mentioned the enactment of the Electrical energy Act 2023 stays a big milestone, offering a strong governance and regulatory framework for the Nigerian Electrical energy Provide Business (NESI).
“The Act devolves regulatory powers to the states, allows subnational markets, promotes competitors, and empowers non-public participation throughout the worth chain. This represents a transparent shift in the direction of a liberalised and investment-friendly electrical energy market.
”Since its passage, 15 states have acquired regulatory autonomy to determine subnational electrical energy markets, with one totally operationalised. We’re working actively with these states to make sure sturdy alignment between the wholesale and retail markets,” he mentioned.
