Nigeria attracts $425m investment in solar manufacturing

Nigeria has attracted about $425m in investments in 2025 for the establishment of eight renewable energy manufacturing facilities as part of efforts to scale up local production of solar panels and position the country as a regional hub for clean energy manufacturing in West Africa.

The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu, disclosed this recently during a webinar organised by the African Association of Energy Journalists and Publishers, where he highlighted growing investor confidence in Nigeria’s renewable energy sector.

He said the investments reflect the impact of deliberate government policies designed to deepen local manufacturing and attract private capital into the sector.

“We have moved from about 120 megawatts of local manufacturing capacity to roughly 300 megawatts today, with 3.7 gigawatts in the pipeline.

“This is based on a deliberate strategy to build investor confidence and attract private capital into the sector,” he said.

According to him, the country’s growing manufacturing base is already beginning to yield export opportunities, with locally produced solar panels now being shipped from Lagos to Accra, Ghana, signalling Nigeria’s emergence as a regional manufacturing hub.

“For the first time, Nigeria is producing solar panels locally, and they are already being exported. This shows the direction we are heading and the leadership role Nigeria can play in West Africa,” Aliyu said.

He added that the renewable energy push is not limited to manufacturing alone but also includes regulatory reforms aimed at improving project viability and investor participation.

The REA boss also noted that Nigeria’s evolving electricity access model is gaining traction beyond its borders, with several African countries seeking to replicate its framework.

“Countries like Mozambique, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mauritania, and Mauritius are engaging with us to understand our framework,” he said.

Aliyu described Nigeria’s Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up programme as the largest publicly funded renewable energy access initiative globally, aimed at expanding electricity access to millions of Nigerians through mini-grids and private sector participation.

“The project is designed around the private sector using a results-based financing model. Developers must mobilise their own capital before accessing incentives,” he said.

He added that the $750m programme is expected to mobilise an additional $1.1bn in private sector investment, supported by financial institutions and development partners, including Citibank Nigeria, Lotus Bank and the International Finance Corporation.