Over 85 million Nigerians lack reliable grid electricity— Dr. Abba Aliyu

 

By Barbara Nwaiwu

More than 85 million Nigerians, representing about 40% of the country’s population, still lack reliable access to grid electricity, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has said.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the REA, Abba Aliyu, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during the signing of a Joint Development Agreement between the agency and Ecotech Development Nigeria Limited to establish a solar panel and battery assembly and manufacturing facility in Nigeria.

Aliyu described the agreement as a major milestone in Nigeria’s renewable energy drive, saying it marked the first commitment by a Tier-1 Chinese renewable energy company to establish manufacturing and assembly operations in the country.

He said although the agency had expanded electricity access through initiatives such as the Rural Electrification Fund, the Nigerian Electrification Project and the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up Project, millions of Nigerians remained without reliable electricity.

“Over 85 million Nigerians, close to 40% of our population, still lack reliable access to grid electricity. REA exists to close that gap,” he said.

Aliyu said Nigeria continued to depend heavily on imported renewable energy equipment despite its abundant solar resources, noting that virtually every solar installation in the country relied on components manufactured overseas.

“Every electrified community across Nigeria today tells the same quiet story. The panel on the rooftop was engineered abroad. The battery beneath it was assembled abroad. The inverter that ties it together was also manufactured outside the country.”

“Nigeria supplied the roof, the need and the market, while someone else supplied the technology and equipment,” he said.

According to him, continued dependence on imported solar equipment has denied the country opportunities to create jobs, build technical capacity and retain foreign exchange.

“Every dollar we spend importing solar modules is a dollar that could have been paid to Nigerian technicians or invested in Nigerian factories. We have been financing someone else’s industrial growth with our own electrification budget,” he added.

Aliyu explained that under the agreement, the REA, through its renewable asset management subsidiary, would facilitate the annual offtake of up to 200 megawatts of solar photovoltaic modules and 200 megawatt-hours of battery energy storage systems manufactured and assembled in Nigeria by Ecotech.

He clarified that the arrangement was a non-exclusive framework aimed at promoting local manufacturing and would not override existing public procurement regulations.

“This agreement is not a procurement mandate. Every transaction will still comply with our procurement rules and be judged on price, quality and reliability. We are not lowering the bar; we are widening who gets a fair opportunity to meet it,” he said.

Aliyu said expanding local production of renewable energy equipment would reduce import dependence, shorten delivery timelines for developers, create jobs, conserve foreign exchange and strengthen Nigeria’s technical capacity, adding that the initiative aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s target of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030 through private sector-led industrialisation.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Managing Director of Ecotech Development Nigeria Limited, John Zhao, said the company would manufacture and assemble solar panels, battery energy storage systems and hybrid inverters for residential, commercial and industrial applications in Nigeria.

Zhao added that the company would also provide engineering design, system integration, installation and long-term maintenance services to improve access to quality renewable energy technologies while supporting the country’s energy transition and local industrial development.