Niger State Government is to establish a partnership with the Rural Electrification Agency for various power interventions.
The State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago disclosed this when he led his entourage to visit the Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu at his office in Abuja.
He said the State government has several Agricultural initiatives which will require power for processing and storage among others to reduce post harvest losses usually experienced by farmers.
The Governor enumerated the efforts of his administration, especially in the Green Economy Initiative to ensure clean energy and many other sectors.
He said his administration will take every necessary step to benefit from the World Bank Rooftop solar initiative and other available windows of opportunities to ensure efficient and effective power supply through the Rural Electrification Agency.
Speaking earlier, the Managing Director, Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu noted that the renewable sector of the country is changing drastically in line with the vision of the President of making Nigeria a renewable hub of Africa.
He revealed that 86 million households are without electricity access with most of them living in the rural areas and their mandate is to turn the challenge into opportunity by leveraging on the entire value chain of electricity.
The Managing Director said to carry out intervention projects across the country, the Agency has secured funding under a programme called Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale Up, which is being executed through Private Sectors for sustainability.
The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency said some State governments have started accessing the funds and that Niger State government can attract part of it by creating an enabling environment while the Agency provides a Private firm that would execute the project.
The Managing Director requested for a date to be fixed for a round table discussion to further discuss on the issues highlighted and more.
The Executive Director Technical Services, Engineer Umar Abdullahi Umar and the Executive Director Corporate Services, Ayoade Gboyega also highlighted strategies to be evolved by sub-nationals to access the funds and benefits derivable from the interventions
