The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Company (REA), Dr. Abba Aliyu, has posited that Nigeria is making important strides in localising its renewable power worth chain, with put in photo voltaic panel manufacturing capability rising from 120 megawatts (MW) two years in the past to roughly 300MW at present.
With an extra 3.7 gigawatts (GW) within the pipeline, the rise in capability to 300MW inside the interval is about 150 per cent.
A press release from the organisation famous that this growth has positioned the nation to emerge as a number one renewable power manufacturing hub in West Africa, with rising potential to serve regional markets.
Talking throughout a webinar organised by the African Affiliation of Power Journalists and Publishers (AJERAP), Aliyu attributed this progress to deliberate coverage route underneath President Bola Tinubu’s ‘Nigeria First Coverage’, which prioritises native content material growth and home manufacturing.
He famous that 2025 marked a defining yr for Nigeria’s photo voltaic trade, with imports of photo voltaic cells and parts for native meeting reaching 837MW greater than the cumulative 375 MW imported in all earlier years mixed, and overtaking completed product imports.
Based on him, this was a robust demonstration that the Nigeria First coverage was driving a structural shift towards home manufacturing within the renewables sector.
Aliyu added that this momentum is being strengthened by roughly $425 million in funding earmarked for the institution of eight renewable power manufacturing amenities throughout the nation, alongside extra commitments secured on the Nigeria Renewable Power Innovation Discussion board (NREIF) 2025.
These developments, he mentioned, are serving to to construct an built-in ecosystem spanning manufacturing, deployment, and financing, whereas creating the size wanted for long-term sustainability.
Aliyu emphasised that REA’s large-scale deployment programmes such because the Energising Schooling Programme (EEP) and Distributed Entry via Renewable Power Scale-Up (DARES) are actually 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 setting continues to evolve to help this progress, with the Nigerian Electrical energy Regulatory Fee (NERC) increasing the framework for Distributed Power Assets (DERs) enabling initiatives of as much as 10MW capability underneath decentralised and Interconnected Mini-Grid era buildings, thereby unlocking new alternatives for personal sector participation.
Nigeria, he mentioned, can also be starting to understand its regional potential, with regionally manufactured photo voltaic panels already being exported from Lagos to Accra, Ghana, signaling a transition from a renewable power shopper to a regional provider.
Trying forward, Aliyu highlighted the potential for photo voltaic deployments in border communities to help cross-border electrical energy commerce, strengthening regional integration and power safety.
He added that Nigeria’s electrification mannequin is more and more being recognised throughout the continent, with international locations akin to Mozambique, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mauritania, and Mauritius participating with the REA to duplicate components of its strategy.
Constructing on this momentum, the following part of the Nigeria Renewable Power Innovation Discussion board (NREIF 2.0), Aliyu careworn, will deal with regional integration and positioning Nigeria as a central hub for renewable power manufacturing, innovation, and commerce throughout Africa.
Aliyu said that Nigeria’s progress displays a broader shift from project-based interventions to constructing a completely built-in renewable power ecosystem, anchored on native manufacturing, scalable deployment, and regional partnerships.
Emmanuel Addeh
Times Nigeria