The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has said that about 80 million Nigerians lack access to electricity being supplied through the national grid, making the country to have the second largest electricity access deficit globally.
The Managing Director of the agency, Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi, gave this hint on Wednesday at the Nigerian Off Grid Investment Opportunities Workshop organised by Energy Mix hub, a subsidiary of energy investment facilitation company, Energy Mix Limited.
According to her, while up to 83.6 percent of the population has access, only 39.1percent of the rural population is having access.
Ogunbiyi explained further thatlLevels of access to electricity also varied from state to state with Lagos which is close to universal access to about 11 percent electricity access in Taraba State while 13 states have levels of access of below 40 percent.
The industry expert also disclosed that the nation’s access to electricity continued to be constrained by various factors, including conflicting data between power distribution companies (Discos) on the exact number of metered customers and NERC, as well as cost of grid extension which is greater than revenue achievable, especially for small communities.
The REA boss also linked the years of violent conflicts and forced displacement of persons which adversely affected millions of people in the North-Eastern part of the country to the denial of people from accessing electricity
She noted further that insecurity in the region makes planning and execution of capital projects difficult, adding that her agency is current pushing for solar home systems through which millions of Nigerians could have access to reliable power from the private market .
As part of the agency’s efforts to improve electricity access nationwide, Ogunbiyi said that the agency had produced mini grid regulations aimed at accelerating electricity access in areas without existing distribution grid and areas with an existing but poorly electrified or non-functional distribution grid.
She also spoke about the World Bank’s investment in the nation’s off grid electricity market, describing it as the largest ever and has the potential to create opportunities for the private sector participants in the off grid power business.
