Nigeria Energy Dashboard

Grid Summary

In Nigeria, as in many developing countries, providing energy to rural and urban areas has proved to be a great challenge. The Federal Government, State and Local Governments formulated policies towards increasing rural energy access have all along focused on grid extension and tanker distribution of petroleum products. With increasing population, the pressures on the infrastructure for the supply of conventional energy resources will continue to increase. Again, conventional energy is depletable with extinction risk. In order to enhance the energy security of the country and establish a sustainable energy supply system, it is necessary to promote the policy of diversifying the energy supply so as to include alternative or renewable resources and technologies into the nation’s energy supply mix. Nigeria is endowed with abundant renewable energy resources like solar, wind, biomass, small hydro, etc., which have minimal or zero supply logistic problems. Harnessing these resources leads to decentralized use and local implementation and management, thereby making sustainable rural socio-economic development possible through self-reliance and the use of local natural resources. For this to happen, the policy makers should make renewable energy development a priority policy statement of government at all levels. Lawmakers should develop appropriate legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks that de-emphasize over-dependence on fossil fuels...more information.

In 2003, the Government of Nigeria approved a poverty reduction strategy, the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), based partly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To prioritize its spending in line with the Goals, Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS) were developed to guide the preparation and implementation of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), with 57 per cent of total capital spending earmarked for the MDGs related sectors. A presidential committee on the MDGs was set up in 2005, with membership comprising the federal and state governments, the legislature, civil society organizations, the private sector and development partners. The review of NEEDS has led to the elaboration of a new strategy, NEEDS2, more closely aligned to achievement of the MDGs. NEEDS2 is being aligned with the Seven-Point Agenda that is the focus of the new administration, which is largely in line with the MDGs, to form the country’s National Development Agenda. This is expected to be the first medium term plan to implement the Vision 2020. Following the debt relief extended to Nigeria in 2005, a Virtual Poverty Fund was established to ensure that monies released from the debt relief would be channeled towards initiatives to reduce poverty...more information.