Ex-Rep tasks investors on Nigeria’s huge energy market

Representative of the South East on the governing board of North East Development Commission (NEDC), Sam Onuigbo, has called on foreign and local investors to take advantage of the huge energy market in Nigeria and invest massively in renewable energy.

Speaking on “Upscaling Regional and Local Renewable Energy Deployment in Nigeria” at the Africa Climate Summit’s Parliamentarians Dialogue 2023, which held between September 5 and 6 in Nairobi, Kenya, the former federal lawmaker summarised that over 40 per cent of the nation’s estimated 223 million population do not have access to electricity.

He pointed out that with the country’s abundant raw materials for renewable energy, technology was all that is needed to service the ready market.

Onuigbo lauded the removal of electricity from the Exclusive List and the enactment of the Electricity Act 2023 that liberalised the industry and made it attractive to investors.

According to the ex-legislator, Section 142 of the Electricity Act 2023 established the Rural Electrification Fund for realisation of more equitable regional access to electricity and promotion of mini-grid and off-grid renewable power systems in remote areas, unserved, underserved communities and islands.

He counselled investors and advisers against repeating the mistake of the early 2000s when they reportedly overlooked the thriving telecommunications industry.