Policy Implementation, Key To Sustainable Development - Adelabu

Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adekola Adelabu has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration is determined to remove inconsistency of policy coordination, implementation and project execution in the Power sector. According to him, frequent changes of Ministers of Power does not give opportunity for policies initiated to be implemented as each Minister comes with his own policy, which leads to changes in policies and abandonment of previous ones.

He made this known during the *8th Africa Energy Market Place with the theme: *Towards Nigeria's Sustainable Energy Future policy Regulation and Investment -A Policy Dialogue for the National Integrated Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan (NIEP-SIP)* held in Abuja at the weekend.

The Minister pointed out that, "the policy dialogue reflects on our journey and forces us to confront the complexities, challenges and triumph that have shaped our policies.

"This Policy sojourn stems from section 3(1) of the Electricity Act 2023, which mandates the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Power to draft and publish in Federal Government gazette, the Nigeria Integrated Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan in collaboration with relevant government authorities and other stakeholders within one year of the commencement of the Act".

"The NIEP-SIP will serve as a guiding blueprint for Nigeria's Energy development, addressing areas such as Rural Electrification, public partnership and universal electricity access, Power source specific policies, bulk power purchase and Management of local distribution in rural areas among other aspects as directed by the Federal Government in alignment with the Legal mandate. The Federal Ministry of Power has initiated the development of the NIEP-SIP as required by EA-2023, aiming to address industry challenges and capitalize on opportunities identified during a comprehensive two day retreat in Dec. 2023"

The liberalization of the power sector and making it an all-inclusive one through signing the Electricity Act shows how passionate Mr. President is, towards using the Power sector in steering economic growth and industrial development.

Adelabu further disclosed that so much interest has developed around the Power sector both in the grid power and the renewable energy.He equally added that discussions have kick-started towards licensing Renewable Energy Supply Companies (RESCos).

"Investors are coming nationally and internationally, the Sub-national levels can now have their own power plants, state grid and even distribution companies".

While speaking on effort of the FG in the power sector towards meeting its set target of doing 6000MWs before the end of 2024, Adelabu revealed that some funds has been released by Mr. President to commence the payment of the $1.3trillion being owed the gas suppliers.

"The N1.3 trillion being owed the power generating companies (GenCos) is equally receiving attention".

Commending the African Development bank group for their unwavering support and collaboration towards fostering dialogue and investment in Africa's energy sector, the Minister agreed that a sustainable, efficient, and inclusive energy Future for Nigeria and the African continent is achievable if collaboration and innovation is key.

"Your presence and participation have made AEMP 2024 a memorable and impactful forum whilst looking Forward to our continued partnership and seeing the positive outcomes of our discussion implemented in the months and years ahead.

Earlier in his remarks the Vice president Power, Energy, Climate change and Green Growth Complex, African Development Bank, Dr Kevin Kariuki, revealed plans by the bank to support the Power sector with the sum of 1billion US dollar, saying that the decision was as a results of the evident reforms in the sector which stemed from the Electricity Act 2023.

He said that National Integrated Electricity Policy and Strategic Implementation Plan would help the Federal Government of Nigeria in unlocking the bottlenecks in the Power Sector and support in delivering policies that will set the sector on the trajectory for sustainable growth and development.

Kariuki assured that the bank would finance the policy recommendations to actualize the expected outcomes of the NIEP-SIP, he added that the bank will also finance a study for the Transmission Company of Nigeria to explore the deployment of Battery Energy Storage Systems to enhance grid stability and facilitate bigger uptake of renewable energy generation.

The Banks Vice President encouraged all hands to be on deck in realizing the 20GW which is the authentic demand of over 200million Nigerians.

Meanwhile,the Director General, Nigeria Country Department, AFDB, Mr. Lamin Barrow said that the African Development Bank launched the African Electricity Market Place as a collaborative platform to facilitate dialogue between key stakeholders in government, the private sector and development partners.

"It provides a platform for structural dialogue on key issues affecting sustainable development of the energy sector in Regional member countries (RMC's)with a view to help address policy and regulate bottlenecks as well as promote reforms to accelerate investments in the Energy sector.