Nigeria must move beyond importing and deploying renewable energy equipment to building the industrial capacity required to design, manufacture and commercialise clean energy technologies locally, the Executive Vice Chairman of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, Mr Khalil Suleiman Halilu, has said.
Halilu made the call at the Mustapha Abdullahi Energy Leadership Fellowship in Abuja, where he spoke on the theme, “Energy Infrastructure, Systems and Integration.”
He argued that Nigeria’s energy future would depend not only on expanding access to solar panels, batteries and other renewable technologies, but on creating an integrated ecosystem linking research, manufacturing, innovation, policy, financing and skilled human capital.
According to him, energy infrastructure alone cannot industrialise a country unless the technologies powering it are connected to domestic production, technical capacity and commercial value chains.
Halilu commended the organisers of the fellowship, including the Director-General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria, Dr Mustapha Abdullahi, and the All Progressives Congress National Youth Leader, Hon. Dayo Israel, for investing in the next generation of energy leaders.
He described visionary leadership as essential to building institutions and infrastructure capable of delivering long-term national development.
Africa’s energy deficit
Highlighting the scale of the continent’s energy challenge, Halilu said more than 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still lacked access to clean energy.
He added that Africa would require an estimated $15 billion annually to close the energy-access gap by 2035.
Although the continent now has more than 20 gigawatts of installed solar capacity, with solar photovoltaic projects accounting for 62 per cent of renewable-energy investments in 2024, he said deployment must accelerate significantly.
For Nigeria, however, faster deployment must be matched by stronger local production.
Halilu expressed concern that the country remained heavily dependent on imported renewable-energy technologies, creating an expanding market for foreign manufacturers without generating a comparable industrial base at home.
“In 2025 alone, Nigeria spent over ₦400 billion importing solar technologies. In just the first half of 2026, that figure had already exceeded ₦200 billion,” he said.
“These are not just import statistics; they represent factories that were never built, jobs that were never created and opportunities that left our economy.”
The figures underline a central contradiction in Nigeria’s energy transition: while renewable technologies can reduce power shortages and emissions, excessive dependence on imports may worsen foreign-exchange demand and limit domestic job creation.
From energy access to industrialisation
Halilu said a sustainable clean energy system must combine technology creation, manufacturing, innovation, supportive policies, affordable financing and skilled personnel.
He explained that this philosophy formed the basis of NASENI’s transformation agenda, built around the agency’s 3Cs Strategy — Creation, Collaboration and Commercialisation.
Under the strategy, NASENI is developing technologies designed to solve local problems, partnering with domestic and international institutions to strengthen technology transfer and capacity, and commercialising research so that innovation becomes usable products.
The approach seeks to close one of Nigeria’s longstanding industrial gaps: the weak transition from public research and engineering prototypes to large-scale commercial production.
For clean energy, that means moving beyond assembling imported components towards progressively deeper localisation of panels, batteries, inverters, storage systems and other parts of the renewable-energy value chain.
Solar Industrial Park in Nasarawa
Halilu highlighted the 40-hectare Solar Industrial Park in Gora, Nasarawa State, as one of NASENI’s flagship interventions.
The project is expected to support local production of solar panels, batteries and other renewable-energy components, positioning Nigeria to capture a larger share of the economic value created by the energy transition.
He also cited NASENI’s partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency under the Nigeria First Policy, which promotes the use of locally manufactured renewable technologies in electrification projects.
Other initiatives include solar-powered irrigation systems to improve agricultural productivity, clean cookstoves to reduce dependence on firewood, and decentralised renewable-energy systems for communities, schools and healthcare facilities.
Halilu said the projects were designed as connected parts of a wider industrial ecosystem rather than isolated interventions.
Their collective objective is to expand energy access while strengthening domestic manufacturing, technical skills, job creation and local supply chains.
Market and investor implications
Nigeria’s clean energy market presents major opportunities across solar manufacturing, battery storage, mini-grids, irrigation, clean cooking, equipment maintenance and energy services.
The country’s large population, persistent power shortages and growing commercial demand provide a sizeable market for investors.
However, local manufacturing will require more than demand. Investors will need policy consistency, reliable power, access to foreign exchange, affordable finance, predictable tariffs and clear rules for public procurement.
A credible local-content framework could reduce import dependence, but it must avoid becoming protectionism that shields inefficient producers. Domestic manufacturers must still meet competitive standards on quality, price, durability and after-sales support.
The strongest model will combine local value creation with international technology partnerships and disciplined commercial execution.
Brand implications
For NASENI, the clean energy agenda strengthens its positioning as an industrial and technology-development institution rather than merely a research agency.
Its brand credibility will depend on whether projects progress from announcements to functioning factories, commercially viable products and measurable jobs.
For Nigeria, becoming a clean energy manufacturing hub would strengthen the country’s investment proposition and support its wider industrialisation narrative.
It would also reposition the energy transition from a costly import programme into a platform for enterprise, innovation and export development.
Building the next generation of energy leaders
Addressing participants at the fellowship, Halilu challenged young Nigerians to become systems thinkers capable of linking technology with policy, innovation with finance and ideas with execution.
“Nigeria has the resources, the talent and the market to become Africa’s clean energy manufacturing hub,” he said.
“What we need are leaders who are prepared to build institutions, strengthen value chains and embrace collaboration.”
He said NASENI’s objective extended beyond expanding access to electricity to ensuring that technologies powering Africa’s future were increasingly designed, manufactured and commercialised in Nigeria.
BRANDECONOMY Insight
Nigeria’s clean energy transition will remain economically incomplete if the country simply replaces imported petrol and diesel with imported solar panels, batteries and inverters.
Energy access is vital, but industrial ownership matters too.
The strategic opportunity is to use Nigeria’s enormous demand as leverage for local manufacturing, skills development, research commercialisation and regional exports.
The challenge is execution. Industrial parks must produce. Partnerships must transfer real capability. Procurement policies must reward quality, not political connection.
Nigeria should not choose between deploying clean energy quickly and manufacturing it locally. It must do both—using imports where necessary while steadily building the capacity to compete.
The decisive question is no longer whether renewable energy will shape Africa’s future.
It is whether Nigeria will merely consume that future or help manufacture it.
