Reps propose Renewable Energy Fund to boost clean energy projects in Nigeria
Tajudeen Abbas, speaker, House of Representatives has called for the creation of ‘Renewable Energy Equity Funds’ to support developers of renewable energy projects across Nigeria.
Abbas made this call at the Nigeria Renewable Energy Innovation Forum (NREIF), held in Abuja on Wednesday.
The Speaker who was represented by Shina Oyedeji, deputy chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Ecological Fund, noted that the most frequently cited barrier to scaling renewable energy projects is financing.
He said, “Developers face double-digit interest rates, short loan tenures, and limited access to equity. This restricts the pace at which clean energy solutions reach communities.
“We need to mobilize innovative financing instruments such as access to green bonds to channel institutional capital into climate-smart projects, Renewable Energy Equity Funds to support local developers, credit guarantees to de-risk private investment, and concessional financing from development partners blended with private capital.
“The National Assembly will work to provide legislative backing for a Renewable Energy Fund, ensuring that financing flows at scale into last-mile electrification, local manufacturing, and innovation.”
He stressed that Nigeria must move to becoming a producer and exporter of renewable energy projects, adding that today, solar panels, batteries, and inverters account for asignificant portion of foreign exchange outlows.
He said that local manufacturing will not only conserve forex but also create thousands of jobs across the value chain, from assembly plants to distribution services and after-sales.
“The National Assembly will continue to work with the Executive to provide fiscal incentives, industrial clusters, and R&D support that encourage companies to set up manufacturing bases in Nigeria. We must deliberately build capacity for Made-in-Nigeria renewable technologies, positioning our country as a clean energy hub for West Africa,” he added.
Also speaking at the forum, Adedayo Olowoniyi, the Chief Technical Assistant (CTA) to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said that it has become imperative for government to ensure that foreign loans secured for the power sector are used to provide jobs for Nigerians and not to import products that that will enrich foreign countries.
According to Olowoniyi, provision of electricity must be targeted at promoting industrialisation in Nigeria. He added that the capital that government is bringing in must drive jobs and that must drive economic development.
“I am not saying we must produce everything, but the energy produce must drive industrialisation, the capital that government is bringing in must drive jobs and that must drive economic development.
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“People just don’t consume energy because they want to consume energy. They consume additional energy because of economic capacity. So we must ensure that through this process of energising Nigeria, we must provide jobs, we must increase the income of our people so that they can actually capitalise on the provision of energy.
“So from the Ministry of Power, our focus has been, we need to localise. Nigeria’s first policy is great. ?You look at India, you look at a lot of markets that have also provided access to their people. They’ve actually done it by their local industry. You look at China. They are producing a lot of what they use for their construction. So we have to move away gradually from importation. Of course, we need to have the right economies of scale.”
