To improve energy access and reliability, Country Sales Director, Process Automation & Software, English-speaking Africa at Schneider Electric, Elijah Daniel, has stressed the need for investment in digital innovation and adoption of technologies such as IoT, advanced analytics, digital control systems, and Software as Service (SaaS) platforms to better manage Nigeria’s evolving energy landscape.

He explained that Nigeria’s current energy network, which is defined by a three-pronged structure: generation, transmission, and distribution, is under severe strain as a result of factors such as transmission bottlenecks, aging infrastructure, demand-supply imbalance and gas supply issues.

He said: “Whichever way you look at it, the grid, in its current form, cannot shoulder the needs of Nigeria’s rapidly growing urban population and burgeoning industries. As the country’s population surges past 220 million, the national grid is simply stretched too thin.”

He further noted that the adoption of digital tools would not only optimise how electricity is distributed but also enable proactive maintenance and reduce downtime.

Speaking on the SaaS model, Daniel stressed that it has the ability to eliminate the need for massive upfront capital expenditure by allowing energy providers to subscribe to software platforms that help manage their operations.

“However, for SaaS adoption to grow, local relevance is key. Here it is important that service providers offer functionality such integrating with local payment gateways, invest in training and support ecosystems and invest training and support ecosystems.

“Localisation of software, modular deployment, and policy alignment will therefore be essential to ensuring SaaS becomes a viable and valuable tool in Nigeria’s energy toolkit.”

He, however, emphasised that technology alone cannot resolve Nigeria’s persistent power challenges, stressing that meaningful progress depends on the alignment of government policy, electricity tariffs and infrastructure investment.