The Federal Government has stated that over 150 million Nigerians have already been connected to electricity, with ongoing efforts to provide access to the remaining 86 million people who are yet to be electrified.
This was disclosed by Adedayo Olowoniyi, Chief Technical Adviser to the Minister of Power, during an interview on Arise TV’s Prime Time on Tuesday.
According to Olowoniyi, Nigeria’s electrification efforts are being driven by “Mission 300,” a programme developed in collaboration with the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to expand electricity access.
“In terms of the investments we are looking at in the power sector, a lot of it has been driven by what we call Mission 300. It is a programme that has been developed by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB). We were just recently in Tanzania, where we signed the Compact for Nigeria. The idea is to look for ways to provide access to 86 million Nigerians that currently don’t have access to electricity,” he said.
While addressing concerns about the power sector, Olowoniyi emphasized the need to improve the reliability of electricity supply for those already connected, as well as to focus on expanding access to the underserved population.
“It’s always important to recognize that Nigeria has electrified over 150 million people already, which is sometimes even more than a lot of countries in West Africa. Part of what we have to do is ensure reliability of supply for those that are already electrified and look at how we will provide access to that 86 million,” he added.
Renewables to Drive Electrification
Olowoniyi highlighted that distributed renewable energy solutions, such as mini-grids powered by solar photovoltaics (PV), offer the fastest means to bring electricity to rural and underserved communities.
“The fastest way to deliver access to the 86 million would be through distributed renewable energy, like mini-grids through solar PV, which you can deploy in rural areas very quickly,” he noted.
Update on Siemens Power Project
Addressing concerns about the Siemens power project, Olowoniyi explained that the initiative, which began in 2018 under the previous administration, had faced setbacks but has been revived under the current government.
“In terms of the Siemens programme, it started in 2018 under the previous government, but a lot of it was stopped for whatever reason. And when this government took over, with the Honourable Minister of Power convincing Mr President, he signed an accelerated agreement with Siemens. This has led us to complete what we call the Pilot Phase,” he said.
He further revealed that the project has now moved into Phase 1, with plans to construct five new substations across different geopolitical zones in Nigeria to enhance electricity transmission and distribution.
“We’ve just now gotten into Phase 1, where we’ve signed five sub-stations to be built in different geo-political zones,” he noted.
More insights
On Monday, Nairametrics reported that the newly-appointed Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Aliyu, unveiled the agency’s plan to provide electricity to 25 million Nigerians within the next three years.
“The present government wants me to face this challenge [of providing electricity to underserved Nigerians] head-on. That is why the target we set for ourselves is to electrify 25 million Nigerians in the next three years as quickly as possible,” he said.
To demonstrate its commitment, the Federal Government has secured a $750 million funding package from the World Bank to electrify 17.5 million Nigerians.
