THE Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has disclosed that it has signed 267 agreements worth about $395 million to provide electricity for unserved and underserved Nigerians under the Nigeria Electrification Projects (NEPs).
REA said the NEP programme, which is funded by a $350 million World Bank loan and $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) has so far provided electricity for five million underserved Nigerians.
The agency said about $64.8 million of the commitments had been disbursed to private sector partners for the execution of the projects.
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REA Managing Director, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, told journalists in Abuja today that the programme was expected to provide off-grid reliable and clean electricity supply to 705,000 households, 90,000 micro, small and medium enterprises, 100 isolation and treatment centres, and 400 primary healthcare centres in unserved and underserved areas of the country.
Ahmad explained that over the years, REA had moved from merely implementing Federal government’s projects in the sector to becoming a hub and enabler of businesses in the sector.
He said the agreements signed with private developers had led to over a million connections across the country.
According to him, “The REA has the mandate of taking power to unserved and underserved Nigerians. How it goes about doing this depends on where the funding comes from. According to the rural electrification strategy plan, we have targets to reach Nigerians everywhere in the country, and the numbers at the moment are being quoted to be as high as 80 million people.”
He noted that to achieve this, a lot of funding was required.
“What we are used to doing is that every year, we wait and get government’s money from the budget, go to the site and then implement the projects.
“If you are to do this for the next 100 years, you will not be able to meet those targets, hence it became important for the agency to ensure that its mandate does end at implementation,” he said.
Ahmad explained that with the Rural Electrification Fund, which is a private-sector driven initiative, REA became a hub and enabler to ensure that funding comes from different areas to enable it deliver on its mandate.
He said, “Now government money is used as an enabler to attract private investment. For instance, for the rural electrification fund, you have a capital subsidy where if a project costs N100 million, subsidy will come in at, maybe, 50-60 per cent and the private developer will come up with the rest of the money, deliver the service to the community and go into an agreement with the community for the rest of the money.”
Giving a breakdown of the NEP programme, Anita Otubu, a lawyer and head of the programme management unit of the REA, explained that the NEP has five components, which are the solar hybrid mini-grid ($213 million), stand-alone solar home systems ($75 million), energizing education programme ($250 million), energy efficient equipment and productive use of appliances ($20 million) and technical assistance ($37 million).
Otubu disclosed that so far 67 mini-grids had been completed, with 995,396 solar home systems deployed.
He added that, so far, 1,151 jobs had been created through the programme.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.