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Chidi Ugwu
The Minister of Power on Thursday said Nigeria must shift its focus from merely expanding electricity access to ensuring power drives economic productivity, declaring that rural electrification should become a tool for wealth creation, job generation and agricultural transformation.
Speaking at the National Stakeholders’ Engagement Workshop on Productive Use of Energy (PUE) in Abuja, the minister said the Federal Government’s energy policy under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is focused on using electricity as an economic catalyst rather than simply a social service.
The workshop, organised by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), centred on policy alignment, market readiness and deployment of energy-efficient agricultural productive-use equipment.
According to the minister, the success of Nigeria’s electricity sector should no longer be measured only by the number of megawatts generated, kilometres of distribution lines built or households connected.
Instead, he said the real test is whether electricity enables farmers to irrigate more land, supports agro-processing businesses, powers cold storage facilities, reduces post-harvest losses and creates new enterprises in rural communities.
“Electricity, by itself, does not transform an economy. Electricity becomes transformational only when it powers productivity,” he said.
He described the Productive Use of Energy agenda as a strategic initiative linking the power sector with agriculture, industrialisation, financial inclusion, climate resilience, food security, rural development and job creation.
The minister noted that although Nigeria possesses one of Africa’s largest agricultural economies, significant value continues to be lost between harvest and market because of inadequate energy infrastructure.
He said insufficient cold storage, limited processing capacity, high production costs and lack of access to energy-efficient equipment continue to undermine farmers’ incomes and the competitiveness of agricultural products.
According to him, expanding access to productive-use energy technologies would lower operating costs for farmers, increase productivity, improve incomes and create new investment opportunities across the agricultural value chain.
He added that the initiative also presents opportunities for financial institutions through the financing of productive assets, while creating a growing domestic market for equipment manufacturers and technology providers.
For government, he said, wider deployment of energy-efficient agricultural equipment would stimulate rural economic development, create jobs, strengthen food security, reduce post-harvest losses, expand internally generated revenue and support Nigeria’s sustainable development objectives.
The minister commended the REA for convening the stakeholders’ engagement and acknowledged the support of the ECOWAS Commission, the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP), development partners, financial institutions, manufacturers, farmers’ associations and other participants.
He urged stakeholders to ensure that discussions at the workshop produce practical, evidence-based recommendations capable of shaping policies, attracting investment and accelerating deployment of productive-use energy technologies across the country.
The minister expressed confidence that the outcomes of the engagement would strengthen collaboration among government, the private sector and development partners while positioning Nigeria to become Africa’s leading market for the productive use of renewable energy in agriculture.
He said the Federal Government remains committed to ensuring that electricity deployed in rural communities translates into greater prosperity through increased productivity and enterprise development.