News in brief: The REA in Nigeria aims to boost agricultural production and reduce costs by deploying mini solar grids, particularly in areas with high agricultural activities.
The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has said that deploying mini solar grids around Nigeria will boot agricultural production. It is also supposed to reduce the pressure on farmers and increased production costs caused by the fuel subsidy removal, especially when they are installed in areas with high agricultural activities.
Ahmad Salihijo, the agency’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said that agro-processing businesses stand to benefit from the country-wide project.
“The system is designed to prioritise productive users, including agro-processing businesses, homes and public spaces. The key is to ensure that this project goes to communities that have existing economic activities so that they are able to afford and use the power. The purpose is to boost agricultural productivity of the country,” Salihijo told reporters at an inspection of a 100KW solar mini grid in Gurin, Adamawa State.
Recall that the agency sent some delegates to inspect a similar grid in Eriwe farm village in Ogun State, a community that produces some of the largest volumes of catfish in Africa. The Eriwe and Gurin solar projects are part of the six that REA is installing around the country.
While it is still early to judge the impacts of these grids on the farming communities, there are already positives from previously installed ones. For example, the World Bank’s Director of Strategy and Operations for the Western and Central African Region, Elizabeth Huybens, expressed satisfaction at what she saw while inspecting the grids in Kilankwa I and Kilankwa II communities in Kwali Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria.
Huybens, as the report claimed, confirmed that the grids will ‘effectively provide access to a significantly larger number of people at a faster pace compared to solely depending on the National Grid’.
The World Bank had provided the REA with a $350 million grant to fund the projects and as that round is closing, the financial institution is preparing another one that is up to $750 million.
