Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has put plans in place to ensure rural communities have access to energy-efficient and electric-productive equipment as part of efforts to implement its Productive Use Equipment and Appliance (PUE).
The PUE initiative is geared towards encouraging un-served and under-served rural communities to become productive and witness accelerated growth and development through the use of low-cost productive equipment.
The flagship initiative tagged Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) aims to provide 24,500 Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with energy-efficient productive appliances. The REA believes that this programme will expand the number of electricity users to over a million people.
REA Managing Director, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, speaking during the grant signing ceremony of the productive use equipment and appliances, said that the PUE would drive sustainability of off-grid energy infrastructure across the country.
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“At REA, our mandate is to provide access to electricity to un-served and under-served households and MSMEs in rural communities of Nigeria. The Agency from inception has continued to collaborate and support private-sector participation in our dedication and commitment to achieve this mandate.
Beyond keeping the lights on, we are very deliberate about the optimization of productive use equipment and appliances to catalyze socio-economic development in off-grid communities. We understand how important it is for beneficiaries of off-grid technologies to appreciate the windows of possibilities sustainable energy presents. This is why this component is very important.”
Speaking on where the agency would source funding from, Ahmad said: “Through the REA, the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) which is funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank was established to increase access to electricity services to un-served and under-served households, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the rural communities as well as Federal Universities and Teaching Hospitals throughout Nigeria.
“Today’s event marks a milestone in the implementation of the African Development Bank-funded Nigeria Electrification Project where Energy Access Companies (EACs) are supported through the energy efficient productive use subsidy programme to encourage the use of low-cost productive use appliances at un-served and under-served communities to improve rural productivity, economic growth, and also rural employment.
