Rural Electrification Agency has urged Nigerians to make productive use of energy to ensure its availability both in urban and rural areas.
The Managing Director of REA, Ahmad Salihijo, who was represented by his Special Adviser, Barbara Izilein, made this call at a high-level stakeholder event in Abuja, convened by the Nigeria Off-Grid Market Acceleration Programme, a donor-funded initiative, focused on accelerating off-grid energy access across the country.
“By harnessing energy to drive productive activities, we can create jobs, increase incomes and improve the living standards of millions of Nigerians where these solutions are being deployed,” the REA boss stated.
Speaking at the event, which had in attendance government representatives, investors and other power sector stakeholders, the Programme Director, NOMAP, Adedotun Eyinade, said the meeting was convened to build on the progress made in the sector and to foster learning and collaboration.
“We are grateful to be complementing the work of government, donor organisations, mini-grid developers, solar home system companies and many other stakeholders.
“As a market accelerator, we pay a great deal of attention to engaging all our stakeholders as a strategy to deepening our understanding of issues and how that can help design human-centred solutions to challenges facing the sector,” he stated.
The event, which was focused on how to finance off-grid renewable energy solutions for rural communities and marginalised groups, featured a panel session on ‘Productive Use Beyond Mini-Grid Viability’, and explored the socio-economic impact of productive use of energy interventions and how it could deliver inclusive impact for women and marginalised groups.
Similarly, the session on ‘Financing Options for Productive Use,’ explored the various financing options and business models for the productive use of energy across the country.
The Nigeria Off-Grid Market Acceleration Programme was established in 2018 through a partnership between Shell Foundation, UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, and USAID Power Africa, under their Scaling Off-Grid Energy Grand Challenge for Development partnership.
