The Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC) and Rural Electrification Company (REA) have teamed as much as develop an initiative that may cut back the $350 million annual spending on diesel by telecom operators in Nigeria.
To that finish, the 2 businesses have inaugurated what they known as NCC–REA Collaboration Committee, aimed toward deploying renewable power options to energy telecom infrastructure throughout the nation.
In response to the State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2025 by the Africa Finance Company, telecom operators in Nigeria eat greater than 40 million litres of diesel each month, costing them over $350 million yearly.
Whereas particulars of how the Committee will work with the telecom operators aren’t supplied in a press release issued by the NCC after the inauguration, the initiative might be focusing on telecom infrastructure in rural areas.
Nationwide priorities
Talking throughout the inauguration of the Committee, the Govt Vice Chairman and CEO of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida described the partnership as a “well timed and strategic alignment of nationwide priorities,” targeted on offering dependable and sustainable energy to help telecom companies, significantly in rural and underserved areas.
“Whether or not it’s powering a base station or enabling a toddler to entry digital studying, this partnership has the potential to rework realities and convey alternative nearer to the folks,” Dr. Maida mentioned.
“This initiative is greater than infrastructure. It’s about driving inclusion, bridging inequalities and creating the situations for shared prosperity,” he added.
- He famous that the collaboration helps President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda by fostering digital and power inclusion throughout Nigeria.
- The NCC boss charged members of the committee to pursue the initiative with innovation, readability, and a dedication to delivering measurable outcomes.
Renewable power and digital connectivity
In his remarks, REA’s MD, Abba Aliyu, reaffirmed the company’s dedication to the undertaking and emphasised the transformative potential of mixing renewable power infrastructure with digital connectivity.
He famous that collaboration gives a pathway to convey sustainable improvement to hundreds of thousands dwelling past the attain of conventional infrastructure.
The NCC–REA Collaboration Committee will deal with:
- Deploying renewable power to energy telecom websites.
- Sharing geospatial information for improved infrastructure planning.
- Aligning funding frameworks to help joint initiatives.
- Monitoring socio-economic affect via outlined efficiency metrics.
The committee is anticipated to function a mannequin for inter-agency collaboration, contributing to Nigeria’s Nationwide Broadband Plan and broader sustainable improvement targets.
What it is best to know
- Fearful by the excessive stage of dependence on diesel-powered mills by the telecom operators within the nation, the NCC had in 2023 introduced plans to provide you with polices that might encourage all telecom operators to undertake clear and sustainable power sources, to scale back their carbon footprint.
- In the meantime, some operators have been embracing renewable power to chop prices. Not way back, MTN Nigeria declared that it had been in a position to has been in a position to decrease its power prices by over N570 million via using gasoline mills.
- Final September, Airtel Nigeria additionally introduced that it was deploying various options to energy its base stations throughout the nation as a part of measures to chop the skyrocketing month-to-month bills on diesel.
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