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‘NSIA’s 10MW solar power will attract FDI to Kano’

By Murtala Adewale and Ahmad Muhammad (Kano) Guardian Nigeria
31 January 2023   |   4:02 am
The Managing Director of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Aminu Umar-Sadiq, has said the 10 megawatts solar power project in Kano State will catalyse growth in the power sector.

President Muhammadu Buhari commissioning the 10 megawatts solar-powered electricity project sponsored by Nigerian Social Investment Agency (NSIA), in Kano State…yesterday. With him are Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Zainab Ahmed; Chairman, NSIA Board of Directors, Farouk Gumel; Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NSIA, Aminu Umar-Sadiq and others.

The Managing Director of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Aminu Umar-Sadiq, has said the 10 megawatts solar power project in Kano State will catalyse growth in the power sector.

While President Muhammadu Buhari was commissioning the project, yesterday, the MD also said it would attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the state.

“The project builds Nigeria’s credentials in the fight against climate change and our commitment to attaining net zero carbon emission by 2060,” the NSIA boss stated.

Accompanied by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano; and Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed; Chairman, NSIA Board of Directors, Farouk Gumel, the President expressed satisfaction with the quality of job done by the contractors.

Buhari appointed NSIA as funds and project manager with a specific mandate to conceptualise, develop, construct and operationalise a 10MW solar project on a 24 hectares land in Kumbotso Local Council.

Haske Solar Company Limited, the project vehicle, is owned by the Federal Government, Kano State Government and Kumbotso.

The project is the largest grid-connected solar PV plant and a proof of successful mid-sized solar PV deployment in Nigeria. 

In addition to providing access to clean, affordable and sustainable energy to local industries and other consumers, Umar-Sadiq told journalists that it would increase industrial output by ensuring that companies reach full capacity utilisation.

The project, which has provided about 2,000 direct and indirect jobs to the immediate community, has more than 21,000 solar PV panels, two 6MVA transformers and 52 inverters, warehouse, control room, office and workshop among others. It was built by a consortium of Eauxwell Nigeria Limited, an indigenous local contractor, and their international partners – Greencells Energy Middle East and Africa Limited – on a turnkey basis.

He said: “This project will truly be transformative to the Challawa Industrial Area in Kano metropolis. We have had extensive discussions in the course of developing this project and what was clear from speaking to the factories, the manufacturing plants and the facilities in that industrial cluster is that it will enhance production efficiency, reduce production costs and, in time, begin to attract FDI into that cluster.

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