Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu’s Keynote Address at 2024 African Caucus Meeting – Transcorp Hilton, Abuja

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF POWER, ADEBAYO ADELABU, OFR, FCA, FCIB, AT THE 2024 AFRICAN CAUCUS MEETING AT TRANSCORP HILTON HOTEL, ABUJA, FRIDAY 2ND, AUGUST, 20024

Distinguished Ministers, Esteemed Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great honour to address you today as the Honourable Minister of Power, especially as Nigeria hosts this crucial gathering of esteemed ministers and high-level representatives from across Africa. We are here to discuss our collective journey towards a sustainable energy future and to share insights on the transformative initiatives that are shaping our continent’s economic landscape.

2. Nigeria’s power sector has undergone profound reforms aimed at ensuring reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy for all Nigerians. A landmark development has been the passing of the Electricity Act 2023. This new act empowers sub-national governments to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity, thereby decentralizing power supply across the nation. It marks a significant shift towards a more localized and efficient energy governance model.
3. In line with the new act and to ensure policy and regulatory framework are aligned to foster an enabling environment for investment and development, the Federal Ministry of Power is in an advanced stage of the development of a National Integrated Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan (NIEP-SIP).
   The policy plan scheduled to be presented to the Federal Executive Council in September is designed to provide a comprehensive framework for the nation’s electricity sector which signifies a concerted effort towards addressing longstanding challenges and charting a sustainable path forward in Nigeria’s electricity industry to achieve a resilient and efficient electricity sector that meets the needs of all Nigerians.
4. To enable rapid development of our infrastructure, the government has put in place a Presidential Power Initiative to fast-track the upgrade of our transmission and distribution networks, and a Presidential Metering Initiative to enable an injection of 2 million meters annually for the next 5 years into the power sector to ensure accurate billing, revenue protection and improved cash flow for improved liquidity.
5. For the off-grid market, we have also made substantial advancements with the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP). This initiative has been a cornerstone in our efforts to bridge the energy access gap, particularly in rural and underserved areas overseen by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). NEP has facilitated the deployment of solar home systems, mini-grids, and other renewable energy solutions, bringing light and opportunity to millions of Nigerians who previously lacked access to electricity. To consolidate the successes of the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), the World Bank has approved an additional $750m facility – the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) program dedicated to promoting renewable energy penetration through off-grid solutions. This initiative is a significant boost to our efforts in enhancing energy access, particularly in remote and underserved areas.
6. Our commitment to a sustainable energy future is unwavering. Nigeria is blessed with abundant energy resources, and we are harnessing these to drive our energy transition. For emphasis, we have a vision 30:30:30 target of achieving 30GW energy capacity of which 30% comes from renewable energy by 2030. To achieve this target, we have made significant investments in our thermal energy sources to drive access and in renewable energy sources like solar, and hydropower projects to improve our energy mix and reduce our potential carbon footprints. However, much more still needs to be done; we need to increase our generation capacity from both thermal and renewable energy sources to meet the growing demand, we need to upgrade our transmission system to enable increased evacuation and adoption of variable renewable energy on the grid, our distribution system to expand energy penetration, and our finally our decentralized energy systems like the mini-grids to increase energy access.
7. I am excited about the announcement of the Mission 300 Programme, an ambitious initiative spearheaded by the World Bank Group (WBG) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) aimed to provide electricity access to 300 million people and clean cooking solutions to 60 million households across Africa by 2030. This initiative represents a bold vision for transforming Africa’s energy landscape and fostering economic growth, human capital development, and sustainable progress.
8. The Ministry of Power wholeheartedly supports Mission 300 and is committed to its success. Nigeria’s participation in this initiative aligns with our national goals and strengthens our efforts to provide universal access to electricity by 2030. We recognize the transformative impact that Mission 300 will have on electrifying Nigeria and encourage other African countries to leverage this programme to collectively drive significant progress in energy access across Africa. By sharing knowledge, resources, and best practices, we can overcome challenges and achieve our common goals.
9. Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to our continued collaboration in this vital endeavour.