The Sustainable Energy Practitioners Association of Nigeria has said inspite of the country’s possession of energy infrastructure worth $510billion, its inherent deficiency remains the major problem hindering investments in the sector.
The association added that the challenge was worsened by a high interest rate of investment in renewable energy infrastructure, which it put at 26 per cent.
SEPAN President, Dr. Magnus Onuoha, who made the disclosure in an exclusive interview with our correspondent in Abuja, said the challenges of the sector were four-fold.
“First is the deficiency in our energy infrastructure over the years in Nigeria, and being the biggest economy in Africa with over $510 billion as shown by the recent rebasing of the economy, is a source of concern. The need to expand the services is imperative, hence the drive towards renewable energy,” he said.
While he expressed concern that the importation of substandard products by quacks had painted genuine investors in the sector in bad light, the development economist called on the Federal Government to address the challenge saying, “To address this second challenge, government, through SON, with the support from Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), should intensify efforts on the importation of quality renewable energy products into the country.
“Thirdly, the cost of investing in renewable energy infrastructure is unreasonably high (interest rate alone is over 26 per cent). Therefore, all relevant institutions should ensure that there is a downward trend in this regard so as to achieve sustainable production and consumption in the sector.”
While saying that there were fears that sustainable investment in bio-fuel and ethanol aspect of renewable energy might lead to the challenges of food insecurity in the country, he dismissed such fears as unfounded, given that “43 per cent of the Nigerian land is arable, yet less than 10 per cent is cultivated.”
The SEPAN boss, however, advised that investors should in the interim focus on non-edible and high oil yielding plants such as alamanda cathefica, jathropha curcas and azadirachta indica as against edible plants such as palm oil, coconut, sugar cane, cassava and others. Alamanda has higher yielding oil followed by jathropha and azadirachta.
He expressed optimism about business opportunities in Nigeria’s energy sector, saying, “I am very optimistic about the growth of business opportunities as long as the tools necessary to drive renewable energy development and improve energy efficiency are put in place.
“These tools require important rule changes and coordinated actions among several Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and must be backed by law. If the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficient Policy (REEEP) is passed as law, it will boost access to energy services and ensure the sustainable growth of clean energy contribution to Nigeria’s energy mix and by so doing ameliorate the electricity challenges in Nigeria by attracting investors to the sector.”
