Nigeria is making vital strides in localizing its renewable vitality worth chain, with put in photo voltaic panel manufacturing capability growing from 120 megawatts (MW) two years in the past to roughly 300MW in the present day, and a further 3.7 gigawatts (GW) within the pipeline. This positions the nation to emerge as a number one renewable vitality manufacturing hub in West Africa, with rising potential to serve regional markets.
Talking throughout a webinar organised by the African Affiliation of Vitality Journalists and Publishers (AJERAP), the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Company (REA), Dr. Abba Aliyu, attributed this progress to deliberate coverage path beneath President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Nigeria First Coverage, which prioritizes native content material improvement and home manufacturing.
He famous that 2025 marked a defining yr for Nigeria’s photo voltaic trade, with imports of photo voltaic cells and elements for native meeting reaching 837MW greater than the cumulative 375 MW imported in all earlier years mixed, and overtaking completed product imports – a robust demonstration that the Nigeria First coverage is driving a structural shift towards home manufacturing.
This momentum is being strengthened by roughly $425 million in funding earmarked for the institution of 8 renewable vitality manufacturing services throughout the nation, alongside further commitments secured on the Nigeria Renewable Vitality Innovation Discussion board (NREIF) 2025. These developments are serving to to construct an built-in ecosystem spanning manufacturing, deployment, and financing, whereas creating the size wanted for long-term sustainability.
Dr. Aliyu emphasised that REA’s large-scale deployment programmes such because the Energizing Training Programme (EEP) and Distributed Entry by way of Renewable Vitality Scale-Up (DARES) at the moment are offering the predictable demand required to maintain home manufacturing, guaranteeing that native production is matched with actual market alternatives.
He additional famous that Nigeria’s regulatory surroundings continues to evolve to help this development, with the Nigerian Electrical energy Regulatory Fee (NERC) increasing the framework for Distributed Vitality Assets (DERs) enabling tasks of as much as 10MW capability beneath decentralized and Interconnected Mini-Grid technology buildings, thereby unlocking new alternatives for personal sector participation.
Nigeria can be starting to appreciate its regional potential, with domestically manufactured photo voltaic panels already being exported from Lagos to Accra, Ghana, signaling a transition from a renewable vitality client to a regional provider.
Wanting forward, Dr. Aliyu highlighted the potential for photo voltaic deployments in border communities to help cross-border electrical energy commerce, strengthening regional integration and vitality safety.
He added that Nigeria’s electrification mannequin is more and more being acknowledged throughout the continent, with international locations corresponding to Mozambique, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mauritania, and Mauritius partaking with the REA to duplicate components of its method.
Constructing on this momentum, the following part of the Nigeria Renewable Vitality Innovation Discussion board (NREIF 2.0) will concentrate on regional integration and positioning Nigeria as a central hub for renewable vitality manufacturing, innovation, and commerce throughout Africa.
Dr. Aliyu concluded that Nigeria’s progress displays a broader shift from project-based interventions to constructing a completely built-in renewable vitality ecosystem, anchored on native manufacturing, scalable deployment, and regional collaboration.