- REA seeks N140bn to Expand Energy Access to 25m Nigerians.
- While calling for more investors, he disclosed that the Nigerian off-grid market is worth N9.2 billion.
To boost energy access in the country, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) urged the private sector to invest in the N140 billion Solar Power Naija scheme with a target of reaching 25 million people. The scheme will provide five million new connections through the solar home and mini-grid systems. Speaking at the first-ever match-making fair in Abuja, the Managing Director of REA, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, explained that the programme is also expected to provide an additional N7 billion increase in tax revenue, $10 million in import substitution and 250,000 new jobs in the energy sector. Ahmad stressed that the SPN team and REA have severally engaged financiers and developers with several engagements.
According to him, “These engagements and discussions have yielded significant progress. We,
therefore, thought it prudent as a next step to set up this Investor Matchmaking event to allow investors and selected developers to network”. He noted that REA has been working to support private developers by creating an enabling environment to facilitate investments, including access to data, policy support, grants, capacity development, stakeholder management, and developer financing.
Also speaking at the event, the Director of Investments and Power Sector Development in the Federal Ministry of Power, Mrs E.O. Babalola, said the country will require an investment of $3.5bn annually in power generation to achieve electricity goals by 2030, urging investors to key into the scheme.
On her part, the Head of SPN, Barbara Izilein, said the first investor matchmaking event is expected to help participants build swift partnerships toward realizing the objective of the five million connections. The acting Deputy Missions Director, USAID (Nigeria), Stephen Menard, said the US government, through Power Africa, had supported Nigeria on 3.6m on the grid and off-grid connections and supported the development of over 1,000 megawatts while providing training about 4,000 persons just as Nigeria still has 85 million people without access to electricity. While calling for more investors, he disclosed that the Nigerian off-grid market is worth N9.2 billion.