The United Kingdom (UK) has injected fresh £10 million into the funding of off-grid low-carbon energy projects aimed at reducing carbon emission and improving access to cleaner energy in Nigeria.
The UK’s Minister for Africa, Vicky Ford, in a statement yesterday, said the fund will also help to scale up solar-mini-grid and home systems, clean cooking infrastructure and cold storage infrastructure in Nigeria.
Ford, who is visiting Nigeria for the first time, said the UK was keen to improve energy access in Nigeria and help the country to keep up her COP26 commitments.
She said: “The UK is committed to increasing both renewable energy and energy access in Nigeria, driving clean, sustainable and resilient growth.
“As the world looks to clean growth, we are witnessing an era-defining opportunity for the private sector. This transition is particularly exciting as it brings together UK government support with the institutional capital, which is essential to grow the sector at scale.”
Funding for renewables
The Minister of State for Power, Jeddy Agba, who received the money on behalf of Nigeria, thanked the UK Government for its active support towards the country’s effort in achieving its carbon neutrality target in 2060.
The UK is committed to increasing both renewable energy and energy access in Nigeria, driving clean, sustainable and resilient growth.
Agba disclosed that Nigeria is currently implementing its clean energy transition scheme with a number of projects in Lagos, Borno and Kano states and has also developed investor-grade data for project development.
This is in addition to a $550 million facility from the World Bank and the African Development Bank, thus becoming the largest clean energy access programme in Africa.
Agba said while efforts had been made towards unlocking private sector participation in the clean energy transition, lack of access to funds has continued to pose a major challenge to such investors and called for more international support to overcome the challenge.
He said: “It is important for international partners to start contemplating on how best they can collaborate with these institutions to define blended finance models that combine local institution capital with foreign currency dominated support to unlock local currency financing of off grid development on a large scale.”
Between 2014 and 2022, the UK will provide over £80 million for Nigeria’s renewable energy sector, which includes grants, technical assistance and leading support through advisory programmes such as the UK Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility.
It also provided over $50 million for the establishment of InfraCredit in 2016, which provides local currency guarantees for renewable energy projects in Nigeria.