The Federal Government is working towards integrating Nigeria’s electricity infrastructure with telecommunications networks to accelerate digital access and improve service reliability, particularly in underserved rural communities.
The initiative is expected to leverage the country’s existing power infrastructure to support the expansion of telecommunications services and address persistent connectivity challenges affecting rural areas.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Aliyu, disclosed this at the second edition of the Rural Connectivity Summit, RuralConnect 2.0, organised by Business Metrics Limited in Lagos on Thursday.
The summit was held under the theme, Rural Inclusion at Scale: Connecting the Next 25 Million Users for Frontier Market Growth.
Aliyu said Nigeria had more than 11,000 rural telecommunications base stations, with an estimated 40 million litres of diesel consumed monthly to power a significant proportion of the facilities.
“Across the digital sector, when you are talking about rural base stations and rural connectivity, we have over 11,000 rural base stations. And it’s estimated that over 40 million litres of diesel are consumed every month to power a lot of these rural base stations,” he said.
Represented by the agency’s Executive Director of Technical Services, Umar Umar, the REA chief described reliable electricity as a critical foundation for expanding rural telecommunications services.
He said the REA and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) were working together to integrate electricity infrastructure with telecommunications networks to improve connectivity and reduce reliance on diesel-powered facilities.
According to him, the collaboration has progressed from mapping rural mini-grids and telecommunications base stations to assessing viable business models and preparing pilot projects involving telecoms operators, tower companies and mini-grid developers.
The initiative is expected to support more efficient power supply to telecommunications facilities, particularly in areas where unreliable electricity remains a major obstacle to expanding digital services.
Aliyu also highlighted the REA’s existing interventions under the Nigeria Electrification Project, noting that the agency had signed about 380 grant agreements, commissioned more than 150 hybrid solar mini-grids and deployed approximately 1.45 million solar home systems.
He said these interventions formed part of broader efforts to expand electricity access and support economic activities in underserved communities.
The proposed integration of electricity and telecommunications infrastructure is aimed at addressing two interconnected challenges facing rural Nigeria: limited access to reliable power and inadequate digital connectivity.
