The 5th REEEA-Alliance International Investment & Partnership Conference has concluded with the unanimous adoption of a 12-point Action Communiqué designed to address some of the most persistent barriers to investment, project execution, energy access and industrial participation in Nigeria’s clean-energy market.
Held at the Marriott Hotel, Ikeja, under the theme “Accelerating Collective Action and Strategic Partnerships for Equitable Clean Energy Access,” the two-day conference brought together federal and sub-national government representatives, development-finance institutions, international development partners, commercial financiers, energy developers, professional associations and other stakeholders to move the clean-energy conversation from policy ambition towards bankable projects, accessible finance and measurable implementation.
At the centre of the conference was a recognition that Nigeria’s energy challenge is no longer simply about generating more electricity, but about creating the policy certainty, financial architecture, technical standards, market structures and human-capital systems required to deliver clean energy at scale.
The urgency is underscored by the country’s continuing electricity supply deficit. Conference discussions noted that grid supply remains in the range of 3,500MW to 4,500MW for a population of more than 220 million, while commercial centres such as Lagos rely heavily on costly diesel and petrol-based self-generation.
The conference therefore positioned the development of decentralised clean-energy markets as both an energy-access imperative and an economic opportunity.
From Policy Dialogue to Implementation
Dr. Imamuddeen Talba, Pioneer Chairman of the Steering Committee, who opened the day two plenary while giving his goodwill remarks underscored the urgency of moving Nigeria’s clean-energy sector from policy formulation to practical, bankable execution.
His intervention set the tone for a day focused increasingly on the mechanisms required to convert Nigeria’s clean-energy ambitions into investable projects, scalable businesses and measurable outcomes; a discourse which had the DG of Energy Commission of Nigeria, Dr Mustapha Abdullahi, represented by Dr Aminu Isa, giving insights into the commission’s drive on policy implementation.
The session also marked an important leadership transition within the Alliance, with Engr. Ayodeji Dada hosting the day two proceedings after being formally inaugurated as President of the Governing Council of the REEEA-Alliance on Day one.
In his address, Dada highlighted the opportunities created by the Electricity Act 2023, particularly the growing autonomy of sub-national electricity markets. He pointed to the combination of state-level market development and predictable federal fiscal incentives as critical to creating the certainty required to accelerate investment in decentralised clean-energy solutions.
The intervention reinforced one of the conference’s central themes: Nigeria’s energy transition will depend not only on policy but on the ability of stakeholders to create the conditions under which projects can move from concept to construction, financing and deployment.
1. De-risking Sub-National Clean-Energy Markets
One of the conference’s major resolutions focused on accelerating the development of sub-national electricity markets.
The assembly commended states such as Ondo State for establishing independent electricity-market structures through the Ondo State Electricity Regulatory Commission (OSERC), Open Access regulations and feeder ceding.
The communiqué called for stronger coordination among the Federal Ministry of Finance, PEBEC and the Nigeria Customs Service to streamline access to Import Duty Exemption Certificates (IDEC) and VAT exemptions for qualifying clean-energy investments.
It also highlighted major sovereign and development-finance instruments already available to support decentralised energy deployment, including the $750 million World Bank-supported Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) programme and its $188 million Green Finance and Investment Facility (GFIF).
According to the conference material, the programme is designed to support electrification of 226,000 households through 40 interconnected mini-grids with a combined capacity of 188.4MW.
The emphasis was clear: financing facilities must be translated into projects that reach communities, businesses and productive-use customers.
2. Making Clean-Energy Projects Bankable
The conference also confronted one of the most significant barriers to clean-energy investment in Nigeria: the cost and structure of finance.
The communiqué called for project debt to be denominated in single-digit local-currency interest rates, with the objective of reducing foreign-exchange mismatch and making clean-energy projects more financially viable.
The discussion reflected the difficult lending environment facing energy developers, particularly where commercial lending costs remain elevated.
Olasunkanmi Owoeye, Group Head at Sterling Bank, highlighted the potential of combining commercial deposits with development-finance institution credit lines.
He reported that Sterling Bank’s HEART strategy had already unlocked more than ₦50 billion in climate loans, with the institution targeting ₦200 billion by the end of 2026.
The intervention reinforced a central message from the conference: Nigeria does not necessarily lack financing instruments; the greater challenge is structuring and blending those instruments in ways that make clean-energy projects sufficiently bankable for investors and lenders.
3. Investment Lounge: Where Clean-Energy Projects Met Capital
One of the defining features of Day Two was the REEEA-Alliance Investment Lounge, a dedicated business-matching platform that ran concurrently with the conference’s panel sessions.
Rather than functioning as a conventional networking space, the Investment Lounge was designed to connect clean-energy developers and businesses directly with financiers, development-finance institutions, investment facilitators, advisory organisations and other potential partners.
The initiative addressed a fundamental challenge in Nigeria’s clean-energy market: the gap between the growing pipeline of energy projects and the capital, technical assistance and institutional support required to take those projects to scale.
The Lounge brought together a diverse group of participants across the financing and clean-energy ecosystem, including representatives of the Africa Regional Representation of the Green Climate Fund, as well as development and investment-sector stakeholders and clean-energy businesses.
Among those participating were Barr. Titi Akosa, Henry Bassey of GreenHub Africa, and Boluwasope Ogboye, Founder & Principal Consultant of The BOPFA Company, a catalytic funding connector.
The participation of organisations and individuals occupying different positions across the clean-energy financing ecosystem gave the Lounge a broader function than conventional conference matchmaking.
It created a space where developers could explore potential financing pathways, investors could better understand project opportunities, and catalytic-finance connectors could identify opportunities for linking projects to appropriate funding instruments and strategic partners.
This was particularly significant in the context of the conference’s wider emphasis on de-risking Nigeria’s clean-energy market.
While the main conference panels examined policy, financing, technology, market development and energy access, the Investment Lounge provided a parallel mechanism for translating those conversations into potential commercial relationships.
The model reflects an increasingly important principle for Nigeria’s clean-energy transition: policy dialogue and investment mobilisation must happen together.
A policy framework may create market certainty, but developers ultimately need capital.
A financing facility may exist, but projects need to be properly structured.
And investors may be willing to deploy capital, but they require credible projects, reliable information, appropriate risk allocation and trusted institutional connections.
The Investment Lounge was designed to bring those different requirements into the same space.
4. PROSPECT: Bringing Project Data Closer to Financiers
A particularly significant development at the conference was the focus on PROSPECT, a digital telemetry platform designed to strengthen transparency and reduce information asymmetry between clean-energy projects and financiers.
Supported by the European Union, BMZ and GET.invest, the platform tracks more than €180 million in clean-energy assets across 21 countries, using automated application programming interfaces to connect smart-meter data directly with financiers.
Its introduction into the conference’s investment and financing discussions reflected a growing recognition that data can itself become a de-risking instrument.
For lenders and investors, reliable information on project performance, energy production, revenues and asset utilisation can strengthen due diligence and improve confidence in financing decisions.
The conference therefore resolved to promote the integration of PROSPECT telemetry into the clean-energy investment ecosystem as part of a broader effort to make projects more transparent, measurable and finance-ready.
5. Raising the Quality Bar for Clean-Energy Equipment
The communiqué also addressed the quality of equipment entering Nigeria’s rapidly expanding clean-energy market.
The conference called for mandatory pre-shipment SONCAP verification, aimed at preventing the dumping of substandard components and protecting consumers, investors and legitimate industry players.
This was paired with a call for an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework for lithium-ion batteries and battery-related electronic waste.
The combination of quality assurance and end-of-life management is significant as Nigeria’s deployment of solar systems, batteries and other decentralised energy technologies expands.
A clean-energy market cannot be considered sustainable if poor-quality equipment undermines consumer confidence or if rapidly growing volumes of batteries eventually create an unmanaged waste problem.
6. Human Capital, Women and the Future Clean-Energy Workforce
The conference also placed human capital at the centre of the clean-energy transition.
The communiqué established a 30% inclusion target for women in technical and leadership positions, while proposing the scaling of paid engineering placements for up to 1,000 young women annually through a three-tier continuum of mentorship, internship and leadership development.
The resolution recognises a reality that is often overlooked in energy-transition discussions: infrastructure cannot scale without people capable of designing, financing, installing, operating, maintaining and regulating it.
For the clean-energy industry, expanding participation by women is therefore not simply a social objective.
It is also a workforce and capacity-development strategy.
The proposed continuum seeks to create a pathway from early-career exposure to practical technical experience and ultimately leadership.
7. Energy Efficiency Elevated as the “First Fuel”
The conference also placed energy efficiency firmly within the clean-energy investment agenda.
Participants affirmed energy efficiency as the “first fuel”, reflecting the principle that the cheapest unit of energy is often the unit that does not need to be generated or consumed.
The communiqué called for stronger enforcement of Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) and proposed the establishment of an Energy Efficiency Trust Fund capable of subsidising up to 50% of capital expenditure for industrial energy-efficiency retrofits.
The proposal could have significant implications for industries facing high energy costs.
Rather than focusing exclusively on adding new generation capacity, energy-efficiency investments can reduce demand, lower operating costs and improve the competitiveness of businesses while reducing pressure on the wider electricity system.
8. Strengthening the Alliance’s Institutional Architecture
The conference also provided an opportunity for the REEEA-Alliance to report on its institutional development.
The Alliance presented its three-year stewardship report, highlighting its expansion from five to seven constituent associations and the activation of 11 Standing Working Committees.
The development signals an effort to strengthen the institutional architecture through which renewable-energy and energy-efficiency stakeholders can coordinate policy advocacy, industry development and engagement with government and development partners.
The conference also recognised institutions and stakeholders through its annual awards, honouring organisations and individuals including the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Sterling Bank, GIZ and Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for contributions to industry development and transformative impact.
From Conference Dialogue to Deal-Making
The significance of the conference’s approach lies in its attempt to connect the different parts of the clean-energy ecosystem rather than treating them as isolated issues.
The 12-point Action Communiqué addresses market structure and fiscal incentives.
The financing discussions address the cost and availability of capital.
The PROSPECT platform addresses project data and transparency.
The Investment Lounge addresses the connection between projects and potential capital providers.
The quality-control resolutions address market integrity.
The gender and workforce provisions address human capacity.
And the energy-efficiency proposals address the demand side of the energy equation.
Together, they reflect a broader proposition: Nigeria’s clean-energy transition requires an ecosystem in which policy, capital, technology, people and markets move in the same direction.
That proposition was particularly visible in the Investment Lounge, where business-matching took place concurrently with the formal panel discussions.
Rather than waiting for the conference to end before stakeholders began exploring commercial relationships, the Lounge provided a parallel transaction-oriented environment where developers, financiers, catalytic funding connectors and institutional partners could engage around opportunities.
For an industry in which promising projects can remain stalled because of financing constraints, inadequate risk mitigation or weak connections to capital, this type of direct engagement could become an important mechanism for accelerating deployment.
Beyond the Communiqué: Implementation Is the Test
The adoption of the 12-point communiqué marks an important milestone, but its real significance will ultimately be determined by implementation.
Nigeria’s clean-energy market does not require another collection of policy declarations without execution.
It requires projects that can attract capital.
It requires financing structures that reflect the realities of local developers.
It requires reliable data that allows investors and lenders to assess performance.
It requires quality standards that protect the market.
It requires women and young professionals equipped to participate in the technical workforce.
And it requires businesses, governments, financiers and development partners to work within a coordinated framework.
The REEEA-Alliance conference attempted to bring those elements into a single platform.
By combining policy dialogue with investment matchmaking, digital telemetry, financing discussions, market reforms, quality enforcement, energy efficiency and human-capital development, the conference sought to move the industry conversation beyond “what Nigeria should do” towards “what stakeholders can execute.”
A New Proposition for Nigeria’s Clean-Energy Market
The most important outcome of the conference may therefore be less about the number of people who attended and more about the architecture it sought to establish.
The 12-point Action Communiqué brings together issues that are often treated separately—electricity-market reform, fiscal incentives, project finance, digital data, equipment quality, investment matchmaking, gender inclusion, workforce development and energy efficiency.
Together, they represent a proposition that Nigeria’s clean-energy transition must become increasingly bankable, measurable, inclusive and execution-focused.
The challenge now is to convert the resolutions into timelines, institutional responsibilities, investment pipelines and measurable outcomes.
The REEEAA is positioned to prove that the conference is more than another industry gathering.
It is set to become a reference point for a more coordinated phase of Nigeria’s clean-energy market; one in which policy creates certainty, finance follows bankable projects, technology improves transparency, local capacity expands, and clean-energy investment translates into tangible improvements in access, productivity and economic opportunity.
For the REEEA-Alliance, the message from the conference is consequently both ambitious and practical:
“Nigeria’s clean-energy market does not simply need more capital. It needs the conditions that allow capital to move confidently into projects, communities and businesses at scale.”
The 12-point communiqué is the Alliance’s proposed framework for beginning that process.
