The Federal Government on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a Chinese Company, Mutual Commitment Company Limited for the assembly of electric tricycles, and establish a renewable energy training centre.

The MoU signing ceremony, facilitated by the Rural Electrification Agency, was attended by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and the Managing Director of REA, Mr Abba Aliyu.

In a statement on Tuesday by Adelabu’s spokesman, Bolaji Tunji, it was disclosed that the event took place in Beijing on the eve of the opening of the African-China Co-operation Summit.

Adelabu was quoted as saying that the MoU event was important and will go down as a memorable day for Nigeria.

He congratulated the REA and the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria on the event, saying it will aid in achieving Nigeria’s vision for the renewable energy sub-sector of the entire electricity sector value chain.

Adelabu added, “I know Nigeria and China have a lot of things in common, one of which is the fact that Nigeria and China are both high population countries and with a country with high population, you have so much pressure.

“The first pressure is that of energy access, and the second is job creation. So when you take steps to achieve both, it is a thing of joy. I am particularly happy that this is happening during the tenure of President Bola Tinubu, as it is in line with achieving the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration for the country.”

The minister reiterated the fact that Tinubu has prioritised the power sector as the driver for all other critical sectors of the economy and, he is giving the sector all the support to ensure it delivers his electoral promises.

He highlighted that energy access and expansion is the government’s major priority because nothing can be achieved without a strong, stable, functional, and reliable electricity sector.

“We have relied so much on centralisation of our power sector for so long that it is not taking us anywhere,” he stated.

Adelabu revealed that almost 40 per cent of Nigeria’s population lacks access to energy with its attendant consequences.

“So, moving away from centralisation, we have decided to adopt the distributed power model to ensure that every Nigerian has access to energy. A lot of our population resides in rural areas, and a lot of our educational and tertiary health institutions are isolated, and they are still facing epileptic power supply.

“We have also found out that the adoption of the distributed energy model will expand the energy net for our rural dwellers, the rural businesses, our universities and tertiary health institutions; which is why the focus is on renewable energy which we believe is scalable and can exist in isolation of national grid that is currently facing lots of pressure,” he explained.

According to him, as Nigeria continues to expand energy access, the country also wants to achieve a transition to cleaner sources of energy that are sustainable and environment-friendly.

He said the MoU would achieve the vision for the renewable energy sub-segment of the power sector.

“We will be able to produce jobs for our large youthful population that is growing every day. Our polytechnics, technical colleges, and universities are turning up graduates every year without assurance of job placement. This will go a long way to make it happen. At the same time, we will be able to achieve our energy access expansion,” he added.

He noted that northern African countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, and Algeria have achieved 100 per cent electrification of their countries and in South Africa, about 95 per cent.

“Unfortunately, Nigeria is still at 62 per cent, though there are still some African countries with worse levels of achievements, but this is not where we belong. If these countries can achieve this, why is it not possible for Nigeria with the level of our natural endowment? We have the gas, and the dams are also there for the hydropower electric. The wind, both desert and coastal, is there while sunshine is also effective. So, what are we waiting for?

“A step like today’s will enable us to move up on our level of electrification. This will consequently lead to growth in our Gross Domestic Product because of the economic activities that would be created. This will also save us foreign exchange expenditure on importation and create jobs for our people if we assemble these things locally,” he posited.

Earlier, the REA boss reiterated the importance of the ceremony as it is capable of delivering on the presidential mandate of building local capacity and creating more job opportunities.

“We will track this and ensure the delivery of the commitment within the tenure of the present administration. We will also track the economic factor that this initiative will drive, the level of GDP contribution, the employment opportunities provided, and the socio-economic activities that will crystallise,” Aliyu remarked.

He said the MCC is presently engaged in Nigeria with the construction of 12 megawatts and 3 megawatts power plants in Maiduguri and Kaduna, respectively.

The Vice Chairman of MCC, Yan Zhezhu, who spoke through an interpreter, expressed appreciation for the power minister’s commitment to Nigeria’s energy growth.