The managing director, rural electrification agency, Dr. Abba Aliyu has declared that Nigeria has now taken it’s pride of place within the global stage as a destination point for energy growth as the country’s previous records as case study for grid fragility and power deficits can nolonger be validated by current growth index.
Dr Aliyu gave the disclosure when he received a delegation from the zanzibar utilities regulatory authority, (ZURA). The REA MD in his remarks noted that Nigeria is now being recognized across the continent and beyond as a premier pioneer and leader in renewable energy innovation, a development he linked to the foundations laid by successive administrations over the years and built upon by the current government which he said has now birted the unpreceedented growth currently being witnessed within the renewable energy space in Nigeria.
“This momentum has been made possible by the political willpower of the Federal Government led by our visionary leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, alongside my boss, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, who remain determined to make Nigeria’s electricity sector sustainable, and highly attractive to investors.
This environment of trust and structural reform has transformed Nigeria into a magnet for global clean energy capital” Dr Abba Aliyu noted.
Giving a rundown of efforts made so far in the renewable energy sector, Dr Aliyu said the recently published Sub-Saharan Africa Clean Energy Market Outlook 2026 by BloombergNEF clearly highlights Nigeria as the continent’s largest and fastest-growing market for distributed solar and small-scale renewable energy, a development the report said has attracted a $80m debt facility dedicated to expanding off-grid solar home systems and business power solutions across Nigeria.
Dr Aliyu told the visiting team that a UK-backed clean energy company MOPO has signed a $75m deal aimed at deploying a new smart battery programme under a strategic partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), with another revelation that
WeLight, the operator of nearly 190 mini-grids across Madagascar and Mali, serving more than 800,000 people has also announced plans to invest in Nigeria’s off-grid market.
“These massive capital injections demonstrate that international financial institutions and global developers no longer view Nigeria as a risky bet, but as the most viable and scalable off-grid energy market on the continent” he declared
The REA MD also noted that beyond international investments, the rural electrification agency is actively deepening alignments with state governments and government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to ensure that mini-grid deployment, electrification planning, and regulatory frameworks function as a cohesive national system.
This internal momentum according to Dr Abba Aliyu is already driving a powerful shift, as the country according to him has now evolved into a vital hub for Pan-African peer learning and South–South knowledge exchange between Nigeria, and other countries.
In his concluding remarks to the visiting team, Dr Aliyu said the visit by the delegation from the Zanzibar Utilities Regulatory Authority (ZURA) reaffirmed how far Nigeria has come as a country in advancing it’s renewable energy sector, which he said has now become a reference for learning by other countries. “REA is maturing into a continental nexus where the future of African energy is actively being shaped”
“From capital mobilization and grid stability to system operations and local implementation, one truth stood out, Africa will achieve universal energy access far faster through radical collaboration than by working in silos” the REA MD concluded.
