Nigeria Loses $29 Billion Annually to Power Shortage — UNDP
Nigeria loses an estimated $29 billion every year due to inadequate electricity supply, according to Elsie Attafuah, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She disclosed this on Monday at the First National Legislative Conference and Expo on Renewable Energy held in Lagos.
Attafuah said the chronic power shortage not only cripples economic productivity but has worsened unemployment across the country. She highlighted the UNDP’s recent interventions in northern Nigeria, where the provision of off-grid energy systems for farmers has already started yielding measurable benefits. “Access to power has increased participation and profits among farmers,” she said.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, also addressed the conference, saying Nigeria must move urgently towards renewable energy.
“This conference marks a crucial step for the House of Representatives to engage in the global response to a critical challenge. We recognise that Nigeria and the global community must embrace a transformative shift towards sustainable energy systems,” Abbas said.
Abbas noted that 92% of new global power generation capacity in 2024 came from renewables, while clean energy attracted $1.7 trillion of the $2.8 trillion global energy investment in 2023.
He added that the House had passed tax reforms removing VAT on renewable energy and compressed natural gas (CNG) to boost private sector participation and investment. He also revealed plans to give legal backing to the federal government’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy introduced in 2015.
Chairman of the House Committee on Renewable Energy, Victor Ogene, said the goal was to cut fossil fuel dependence and promote clean energy for sustainable development and job creation.
