A coalition of Civil Societies Organisations (CSOs), on energy, says there is no justification for the huge energy access gap in Africa, especially in Nigeria.
The coalition said it calls for concern considering the abundant energy resources across the continent.
The CSOs which include Natural Justice (NJ) and Logoshere Advisory (LA), said this at a news conference/Policy workshop jointly organised by the two organisations on Thursday in Abuja.
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The NJ Country Manager, Mr Michael Karikpo, speaking on behalf of the CSOs said that nearly 600 million Africans lacked access to sustainable electricity.
He attributed the gap to failure of national and sub-national governments on the continent to adopt appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks.
To address the gap, he said there was the need for Africa sub-national governments, especially Nigerian states to put in place the right legal and regulatory frameworks on generation, transmission, and distribution of energy.
According to him, the right legal and regulatory frameworks will make Nigeria a key energy supplier on the continent.
“It is a proven fact that if the legal and regulatory frameworks are right, investors will come.
“The multiplier effect of this would be that affordable energy would be available to drive innovation, enhance local skills development, and the capacity for domestic production of different energy technologies,’’ he said.
To this end, Karikpo said that a broad-based coalition of CSOs in Nigeria, with government officials and communities, were partnering international organisations for the promotion of strategies for efficient and viable state electricity markets in Nigeria.
“In fact, in particular, Natural Justice and Just Energy Transition Africa, which are Africa-focused civil society organizations, are working to provide policy and legal support for civil society, communities, and local governments.
“We are working to shape new and emerging power sector regulations and regulatory frameworks that remove the barriers to clean energy.
“This is to also increase public participation in energy planning and procurement and ensure that local people benefit from clean energy development,’’ he said.
Karikpo said energy was the foundation on which economic growth, national security, poverty eradication, and sustainable development rest.
He said that the future growth and sustainable development of Nigeria largely depended on the availability of significant electricity generation and transition as well as the capacity to ensure affordable, accessible, reliable, and environmentally sustainable energy.
“This will provide energy security for productive use, such as agriculture, manufacturing, and industry, and for poverty alleviation, including healthcare and education, which has been an unfulfilled national priority for decades,’’ he said.
He described the 2023 constitutional amendment that authorised Nigeria states to make laws on generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, even in areas covered by the national grid as a milestone.
This, according to him, will ensure that Nigeria will continue to play its critical role as a major supplier of energy, regionally and globally, no matter the configuration of the future energy needs.
Karikpo said that over the years, African governments agreed to an ambitious target of tripling renewable energy generation capacity by 2030.
He said that to achieve the target, it would require African countries to attract significant investment in large-scale renewables.
“Creating an enabling policy and regulatory environment is crucial for scaling investment in renewables and accelerating the transition to clean, reliable, least-cost energy.
“This will help drive development and provide energy access to millions across the continent of Africa,’’ he said.
Karikpo said that Nigeria was also taking important steps to improve its energy security and accelerate the transition to renewable energy, to meet the nation’s minimum target of 30 per cent of electricity generation from renewable energy by 2030.
He said effort to achieve this include putting in place key regulations to facilitate embedded generation, mini-grid deployment, competition and access to grid from state as suppliers of electricity.
“This is why as civil society group and as community, we seek partnership with governments.
“This is because the constitutional reforms put them in the best position to drive Nigeria’s dominance of renewable energy in Africa, just as we are doing in the oil and gas sector,’’ he said.
He said that to address difficulties and incoherencies inherent in the process of developing a legal and regulatory framework, and their implementation, the CSOs led by Logoshere had developed two key documents.
The documents according to him are the policy document detailing the elements of good electricity sector law and a draft model of electricity law, which had been reviewed.
He pledged that the group would continue to provide a clear roadmap for the nation to develop its energy sector.
