Tobias Sylvester
The Federal Government has commenced the installation of N140 billion solar systems in five million homes in underserved and off-grid communities across the country.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, said beneficiaries are expected to pay about N4,000 monthly for a period of three years.
Akande said the installation of the solar power will commence this week for about 25 million Nigerians in 5 million homes, who live mostly in rural communities and not connected to the national grid.
According to him, in the statement titled, “25m Nigerians to own 5m solar systems at N4,000 monthly,’ the solar installation is part of the government’s Economic Sustainability Plan.
He said the solar programme, nicknamed Solar Power Naija, for which installations starts in December, is being implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency.
“An important aspect of the scheme is the option of outright ownership by beneficiaries at a cost ranging from N1,500 per week to N4, 000 monthly depending on the capacities, for a period of three years.”
Akande noted that that the arrangement allows as many as 25 million Nigerians to own personal solar systems in their homes.
“The programme will include the assembly or manufacturing of components of off-grid solutions to facilitate the growth of the local manufacturing industry.
“In view of the scale of materials required, solar equipment manufacturers/assemblers will be incentivised to set up facilities in Nigeria, thereby offering additional job opportunities to Nigerians.
“In addition, installation, servicing, and payment collections are expected to provide thousands of other jobs. In all, at least 250,000 jobs will be created,” the statement added.
It was further learnt that the World Bank, which is also participating in the plan, is providing a grant to finance 20 per cent of the retail cost of the solar system across the country.
KanyiDaily recalls that Osinbajo had also disclosed that the Federal Government secured land in 11 states to build thousands of two-bedroom apartments for Nigerians at the cost of N2m each.
