Nigeria’s renewable energy workforce participation remains significantly low, with the sector generating only about 70,000 jobs despite attracting over $2 billion in cumulative investment. The global solar industry supports 16.2 million jobs.
The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Dr. Abba Aliyu, who was the keynote speaker at the 2026 Oriental News Conference held in Lagos last Thursday, said that the gap underscores the urgent need for a deliberate shift toward local capacity development, warning that Nigeria cannot build a sustainable energy transition on permanent import dependence.
Aliyu who was represented by REA’s Executive Director (Corporate Services), Mr.
Gboyega Ayoade, stressed that energy policy must double as industrial policy—driven by local participation rather than expatriate dominance.
He said: ‘As renewable energy deployment grows, we must also grow local capacity for assembly, manufacturing, installation, operation, maintenance, recycling and skills development.
‘This is where the Nigeria First policy becomes important. Clean energy must become a platform for local content, job creation and industrial value capture.
‘Every major renewable energy programme should ask a simple question: beyond supplying electricity, what domestic capacity does this project build?
‘Does it create jobs for Nigerian engineers and technicians? Does it use local installers? Does it create demand for local assembly? Does it support Nigerian firms? Does it strengthen the supply chain? Does it improve skills and technology transfer?
‘This is how clean energy becomes an industrial policy tool’, he stated.
He further noted that REA’s programmes are being repositioned to align with this approach, leveraging clean energy as a strategic industrial policy tool.
‘REA’s programmes are increasingly being positioned within this logic. Large-scale deployment creates predictable demand. Predictable demand gives confidence to manufacturers. Manufacturing creates jobs. Jobs expand incomes. And stronger local supply chains reduce costs over time’, he said.
Aliyu revealed that key segments, including public sector solarisation, mini-grids, agricultural energy hubs, and institutional electrification, can serve as anchor markets for domestic renewable manufacturing rather than merely energy access projects.
The REA boss emphasised that despite strong potential, many solar projects fail to advance due to weak bankability structures rather than technical limitations.
He explained that capital would only flow where projects are well-prepared, risks clearly allocated, revenue streams credible, and institutions trusted.
For him, the core constraint is not potential—but bankability.
‘Projects often require stronger feasibility studies, clearer demand assessment, improved payment structures, robust technical preparation, environmental and social safeguards, deeper community engagement, and effective risk mitigation instruments.
‘To address this, REA is working with development partners, financial institutions, and private developers to strengthen project preparation and financing frameworks.
‘Through performance-based grants, minimum subsidy frameworks, blended finance, demand aggregation, public-private partnerships, and green finance platforms, the agency aims to improve investability across the sector’, he said.
Aliyu disclosed that Nigeria’s decarbonisation strategy must extend beyond emissions targets to a broader economic framework linking energy, finance, industry, and investment.
On driving Nigeria’s decarbonisation through strategic promotion of clean energy, the REA boss said: ‘For Nigeria, decarbonisation cannot be reduced to a narrow conversation about emissions alone.
‘It must be a conversation about competitiveness, industrial renewal, energy security, climate resilience, financing, technology, and inclusive growth.
‘It must recognise the structure of our economy, the role of oil and gas, the urgency of expanding electricity access, and the need to position clean energy as a catalyst for national development’.
He stressed that achieving this requires coordinated, system-wide reforms.
Aliyu explained: ‘Decarbonisation cannot be achieved through isolated rules. It requires an integrated regulatory architecture that connects energy, finance, environment, industry and investment.
‘Regulation must therefore enable innovation while protecting consumers and ensuring market discipline. This is where broad regulatory reform becomes essential.
‘For the extractive industry, regulations around emissions management, carbon capture, gas flaring reduction, clean energy adoption, environmental reporting and sustainable finance must be clear and coordinated.
‘For the power sector, regulations around mini-grids, embedded generation, net metering, wheeling, storage and distributed energy resources must continue to evolve’.
Aliyu cautioned that Nigeria’s decarbonisation pathway must reflect its development realities.
‘We are a developing country with a growing population, expanding energy demand and significant infrastructure deficits.
‘Millions of Nigerians still require access to reliable electricity. Businesses still face high energy costs. Public institutions still depend heavily on diesel. Industrial clusters still struggle with unreliable supply. Rural communities still need power for productive use.
‘Therefore, the challenge before us is not simply to reduce emissions.
‘The real challenge is to expand energy access, grow the economy, industrialise, and reduce emissions at the same time’, he said.
The REA MD said that decentralised renewable energy solutions remain critical to achieving this balance.
He said: ‘For many years, the energy transition was sometimes presented as a trade-off between development and climate responsibility.
‘But the evidence from Nigeria’s renewable energy access experience shows the opposite.
‘Clean energy can reduce emissions while improving livelihoods. It can lower the cost of production while improving reliability.
‘It can serve communities that the conventional grid may not reach quickly. It can power hospitals, schools, markets and farms.
‘It can also create new industries around solar, storage, metering, digital monitoring, installation, maintenance and local manufacturing.
‘In this sense, clean energy is not only an environmental solution. It is an economic development strategy’..
Aliyu said that REA’s interventions are helping transition Nigeria from fragmented electrification efforts to a more structured renewable energy market.
‘Key programmes include the Nigeria Electrification Project, the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up programme, the Energising Education Programme, the National Public Sector Solarisation Initiative, and various mini-grid and agricultural energy projects’, he said.
According to him, those initiatives demonstrate that renewable energy can be deployed at scale through practical, private-sector-driven models.
The REA MD emphasised that decarbonisation cannot be achieved through isolated rules, adding that it requires an integrated regulatory architecture that connects energy, finance, environment, industry and investment.
‘Government must provide clear policy direction, while the regulators must create confidence, the private sector must invest, financial institutions must innovate and development partners must de-risk priority markets’, Aliyu noted.
He also disclosed that the extractive industry must reduce emissions and support cleaner development models, while the media must continue to create informed platforms for accountability and public understanding.
The REA MD, therefore, commended Oriental News Nigeria for convening the conference, noting that the media play a critical role not only in reporting events but in shaping informed national dialogue.
Here’s the report rewritten in a standard news style using UK English, with improved structure, tighter editing and attribution while preserving the key facts and quotations.
Nigeria’s Renewable Energy Sector Has Created Only 70,000 Jobs Despite $2bn Investment, Says REA
Nigeria’s renewable energy sector has created only about 70,000 jobs despite attracting more than $2 billion in cumulative investment, highlighting the need for greater local capacity development, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has said.
Speaking as keynote speaker at the 2026 Oriental News Conference in Lagos last Thursday, the Managing Director of the REA, Dr Abba Aliyu, said the country’s energy transition must be driven by local participation rather than continued dependence on imported expertise.
Aliyu, who was represented by the agency’s Executive Director of Corporate Services, Gboyega Ayoade, noted that while the global solar industry supports about 16.2 million jobs, Nigeria’s renewable energy workforce remains relatively small.
He said energy policy must also serve as industrial policy by promoting local manufacturing, skills development and job creation.
“As renewable energy deployment grows, we must also grow local capacity for assembly, manufacturing, installation, operation, maintenance, recycling and skills development,” Aliyu said.
“This is where the Nigeria First policy becomes important. Clean energy must become a platform for local content, job creation and industrial value capture.”
He said every major renewable energy project should be assessed not only by the electricity it delivers but also by the domestic capacity it creates.
“Does it create jobs for Nigerian engineers and technicians? Does it use local installers? Does it create demand for local assembly? Does it support Nigerian firms? Does it strengthen the supply chain? Does it improve skills and technology transfer? This is how clean energy becomes an industrial policy tool,” he added.
Aliyu said the REA was repositioning its programmes to align with that strategy, arguing that large-scale deployment of renewable energy would stimulate manufacturing, strengthen supply chains and create employment.
According to him, initiatives such as public sector solarisation, mini-grids, agricultural energy hubs and institutional electrification should serve as anchor markets for domestic renewable energy manufacturing rather than simply expanding electricity access.
The REA boss also identified weak project bankability as one of the biggest barriers to investment in the sector, saying many renewable energy projects fail to progress despite their technical viability.
“The core constraint is not potential but bankability,” he said.
He explained that investors require projects with robust feasibility studies, credible revenue models, effective risk allocation, strong environmental and social safeguards and sound community engagement before committing capital.
Aliyu said the agency was working with development partners, financial institutions and private developers to improve project preparation and financing through performance-based grants, blended finance, public-private partnerships, minimum subsidy frameworks and green finance platforms.
On Nigeria’s decarbonisation agenda, Aliyu said reducing emissions must go hand in hand with expanding electricity access, strengthening energy security, promoting industrialisation and driving inclusive economic growth.
“For Nigeria, decarbonisation cannot be reduced to a narrow conversation about emissions alone,” he said.
“It must be a conversation about competitiveness, industrial renewal, energy security, climate resilience, financing, technology and inclusive growth.”
He stressed that Nigeria’s transition must reflect the country’s development realities, including rapid population growth, rising energy demand and significant infrastructure deficits.
“Millions of Nigerians still require access to reliable electricity. Businesses still face high energy costs. Public institutions still depend heavily on diesel. Industrial clusters still struggle with unreliable supply. Rural communities still need power for productive use.
“The challenge before us is not simply to reduce emissions. The real challenge is to expand energy access, grow the economy, industrialise and reduce emissions at the same time,” he said.
Aliyu described decentralised renewable energy as central to achieving that balance, noting that clean energy could improve livelihoods, reduce production costs, strengthen energy reliability and support sectors including healthcare, education, agriculture and manufacturing.
He said renewable energy also presents opportunities to develop industries around solar technology, battery storage, metering, digital monitoring, installation, maintenance and local manufacturing.
According to him, the REA’s interventions are helping to transform Nigeria’s electrification landscape through programmes such as the Nigeria Electrification Project, the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up Programme, the Energising Education Programme, the National Public Sector Solarisation Initiative and several mini-grid and agricultural energy projects.
He said the initiatives demonstrate that renewable energy can be deployed successfully at scale through practical, private sector-led models.
Aliyu further called for coordinated reforms across the energy, finance, environment, industry and investment sectors, stressing that effective decarbonisation requires an integrated regulatory framework rather than isolated policies.
He said government must provide clear policy direction, regulators must inspire investor confidence, financial institutions must develop innovative financing mechanisms, the private sector must invest, while development partners should continue to de-risk priority markets.
He added that the extractive industry must accelerate emissions reduction and adopt cleaner development models, while the media should continue to promote informed public discourse and accountability.
Aliyu commended Oriental News Nigeria for organising the conference, saying the media play an important role not only in reporting events but also in shaping national conversations on critical development issues.
