More than 85 million Nigerians, representing nearly 40 per cent of the country’s population, still do not have reliable access to grid electricity, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Aliyu, has said.
Aliyu disclosed this on Tuesday, August 4, in Abuja during the signing of a Joint Development Agreement between the REA and Ecotech Development Nigeria Limited to establish a solar panel and battery assembly and manufacturing plant in Nigeria.
He described the agreement as a significant step in the country’s renewable energy journey, noting that it is the first time a Tier-1 Chinese renewable energy company has committed to setting up manufacturing and assembly operations in Nigeria.
Despite ongoing efforts to expand electricity access through programmes such as the Rural Electrification Fund, the Nigerian Electrification Project and the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up Project, Aliyu said the country still faces a major electricity deficit.
“Over 85 million Nigerians, close to 40 per cent of our population, still lack reliable access to grid electricity. REA exists to close that gap,” he said.
Aliyu also expressed concern over Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imported renewable energy equipment, despite the country’s vast solar energy potential.
“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, the continued reliance on imported solar products has cost Nigeria valuable jobs, technical expertise and foreign exchange.
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“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.
Explaining the new partnership, Aliyu said the REA, through its renewable asset management subsidiary, would facilitate the annual offtake of up to 200 megawatts of locally manufactured solar photovoltaic modules and 200 megawatt-hours of battery energy storage systems produced by Ecotech in Nigeria.
He stressed that the agreement is non-exclusive and does not replace existing procurement procedures.
“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 domestic production of renewable energy equipment would reduce import dependence, shorten delivery timelines, create jobs, conserve foreign exchange and strengthen Nigeria’s technical capacity.
He added that the initiative supports President Bola Tinubu’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030 through private sector-led industrialisation.
Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director of Ecotech Development Nigeria Limited, John Zhao, said the company would manufacture and assemble solar panels, battery storage systems and hybrid inverters in Nigeria for residential, commercial and industrial use.
Zhao said Ecotech would also provide engineering design, system integration, installation and long-term maintenance services, adding that the investment would expand access to quality renewable energy technologies while supporting Nigeria’s transition to cleaner energy and boosting local industrial growth.
Nigeria continues to face a wide electricity access gap, with millions of homes and businesses still lacking reliable power.
In response, the Federal Government has intensified efforts to expand renewable energy through mini-grids and solar home systems while encouraging local manufacturing to reduce imports, create jobs and accelerate rural electrification.