The Federal Government, in partnership with the World Bank, is set to commence a major rural electrification project in November, aimed at providing electricity to 17.5 million Nigerians. This was revealed by the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Aliyu, during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday.
Aliyu stated that the initiative, titled the Distributed Renewable Energy Scaleup project, will focus on using renewable energy sources to bring power to underserved rural communities across the country.
“For example, there’s a new project that we are starting next month called the Distributed Renewable Energy Scaleup project, which is a $750 million project financed by the World Bank. The target of that project is to electrify 17.5 million Nigerians, and I must say that this is one of the most ambitious projects in the world based on my understanding,” Aliyu explained.
He highlighted the scale of the project, noting that only India has implemented a similarly large electrification initiative in recent years. “Apart from India, which has moved many unelectrified people to have electricity access, there’s no other country that has an ambitious project like this,” Aliyu added.
In addition to this initiative, the REA is also working on providing affordable energy solutions to tertiary institutions using renewable energy, reinforcing its commitment to expanding access to sustainable power across Nigeria.
