Business
THE President of Young Innovators Nigeria (YIN), Mr Andrew Agbo, says collaboration among stakeholders, particularly those in the research and innovation sub-sector, is critical to addressing Nigeria’s energy challenges.
Agbo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that government, financial institutions, development partners, private sector and universities should partner to build a resilient energy ecosystem.
“The way forward requires collaboration. Government must focus on affordability, local manufacturing, and innovation support,” Agbo said.
He also said financial institutions should create dedicated clean energy financing windows, while development partners should expand support for scalable local solutions.
According to him, private sector players should invest in local production and distribution networks while universities and research institutions should accelerate clean energy research and commercialisation.
“Most importantly, young innovators must be empowered to develop Nigerian solutions for Nigerian challenges,” he said.
Agbo noted that the gas crisis should not be viewed solely as a challenge but also as an opportunity to build a more diversified and inclusive energy ecosystem.
He said such an ecosystem would create jobs, protect the environment, and improve the quality of life for millions of Nigerians.
“The gas crisis should not be viewed solely as a challenge; it should also be seen as an opportunity to build a more resilient, diversified, and inclusive energy ecosystem.
“It should create jobs, protects the environment, and improves the quality of life for millions of Nigerians,” Agbo said.
He said converting generators to run on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) remained technically sound but had become economically challenging due to rising prices.
Agbo said many Nigerians who had invested in gas conversions were now evaluating hybrid options.
“Technically, the innovation remains sound because gas-powered generators are cleaner and often require less maintenance.
“The financial advantage has reduced significantly due to rising LPG prices and availability remains only in urban areas. Even in Abuja people struggle to get supply,” Agbo said.
He said existing LPG conversion kits could often be modified to accommodate biogas, CNG, or dual-fuel configurations with the appropriate engineering adjustments.
According to him, YIN members are developing biomass briquettes from agricultural waste, improved energy-efficient cookstoves, biogas digesters, waste-to-energy systems, solar-powered cooking solutions and smart energy monitoring technologies.
“Biomass briquettes can significantly reduce cooking costs where agricultural waste is readily available.
“Biogas can provide an almost continuous fuel source for households and institutions with access to organic waste,” he said.
Agbo said that funding and distribution remained the most significant barriers to mass adoption of alternatives, adding that foreign exchange volatility directly affected production costs.
“Many promising technologies never scale because innovators cannot access affordable financing.
“Critical components such as regulators, valves, electronics and sensors are often imported,” he said.
Agbo said the alternative energy value chains could create lots of direct and indirect jobs over the next five years if properly supported.
He urged collaboration among government, financial institutions, development partners, private sector and universities to accelerate clean energy research and commercialisation.
“The gas crisis should not be viewed solely as a challenge; it should also be seen as an opportunity to build a more resilient, diversified and inclusive energy ecosystem,” he said. (NAN)
A.I
June 8, 2026
Tags: Mr Andrew Agbo President of Young Innovators Nigeria (YIN)