- Forty per cent of Nigeria’s estimated 223 million population does not have access to electricity despite its vast energy market.
- The former lawmaker called for Investment in Nigeria’s ready energy market.
Representative of the South East on the governing board of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Sam Onuigbo, said Nigeria needs technology to service the ready market. He says this is due to the country’s abundant raw materials for renewable energy.
He called on foreign and local investors to take advantage of the vast energy market in Nigeria to invest massively in renewable energy. Onuigbo, the former House of Representatives member, said this at the Africa Climate Summit’s Parliamentarians Dialogue 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya. While delivering his speech on “Upscaling Regional and Local Renewable Energy Deployment in Nigeria”, he stated that over 40 per cent of the nation’s estimated 223 million population do not have access to electricity.
Onuigbo expressed optimism over the enacted Electricity Act 2023, stating that it modified the industry and made it attractive to investors. According to the ex-legislator, Section 142 of the Electricity Act 2023 established the Rural Electrification Fund for the realisation of more equitable regional access to electricity and the promotion of mini-grid and off-grid renewable power systems in remote areas, unserved, underserved communities and islands.
He advised investors against repeating the mistake of overlooking the thriving telecommunications industry made in the early 2000s.