By Busola Aro

Abba Aliyu, managing director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), says Nigeria’s renewable energy sector is not creating enough jobs.

He said the sector has created only about 70,000 jobs despite attracting more than $2 billion in cumulative investment in clean energy, stressing that the figure remains far below the employment potential of the industry.

Aliyu, speaking at the 2026 Oriental News Conference in Lagos, said the global solar industry currently supports about 16.2 million jobs, highlighting the gap between Nigeria’s investment inflows and employment outcomes.

Represented by Gboyega Ayoade, executive director of corporate services, Aliyu said the disparity shows the need for a deliberate shift towards local capacity development.

He warned that Nigeria cannot sustain its energy transition while relying heavily on imported technologies and expertise.

The REA chief said energy policy must also serve as industrial policy by promoting local participation across the renewable energy value chain.

“As renewable energy deployment grows, we must also grow local capacity for assembly, manufacturing, installation, operation, maintenance, recycling and skills development,” he said.

“This is where the Nigeria First policy becomes important. Clean energy must become a platform for local content, job creation and industrial value capture.”

Aliyu said every major renewable energy programme should be assessed not only by the electricity it supplies but also by the domestic capacity it creates.

“Does it create jobs for Nigerian engineers and technicians? Does it use local installers? Does it create demand for local assembly? Does it support Nigerian firms? Does it strengthen the supply chain? Does it improve skills and technology transfer? This is how clean energy becomes an industrial policy tool,” he said.

The REA, he said, is repositioning its programmes to support local manufacturing and skills development through large-scale deployment that creates predictable demand for manufacturers.

‘RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS FACE BANKABILITY CHALLENGES’

The managing-director also said the biggest challenge facing renewable energy investment is not Nigeria’s resource potential but the bankability of projects.

According to Aliyu, many projects fail to attract financing because of weak feasibility studies, poor demand assessments, inadequate payment structures, and insufficient risk mitigation.

“The core constraint is not potential but bankability,” he said.

Aliyu said the agency is working with development partners, financial institutions and private developers to improve project preparation through performance-based grants, blended finance, public-private partnerships and green finance platforms.

On decarbonisation, he said Nigeria’s energy transition must go beyond emissions reduction to support industrialisation, economic growth, and energy access.

“The challenge before us is not simply to reduce emissions. The real challenge is to expand energy access, grow the economy, industrialise, and reduce emissions at the same time,” he said.

Aliyu also noted that REA programmes, including the Nigeria electrification project, through the renewable energy scale-up programme, the energising education programme, and the national public sector solarisation initiative, are helping to build a more structured renewable energy market through private sector-led models.

Source: TheCable