The Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba, has rated the Rural and Electrification Agency high for having impactful projects across the six geopolitical zones of the federation.
Jedy-Agba, who said this in a chat with journalists on Thursday, stated that in his assessment, the Agency has performed satisfactorily and deserves commendation, having impacted several rural communities in all six geo-political zones.
The minister said, “For us to move forward in a sector as critical as this, we need reforms, and that is what this agency has been doing.
“I just want to say to you that the Rural and Electrification Agency is my star agency, it’s directly under my supervision and purview. I want to assure you that in all the six geopolitical zones of this country, we have had two projects in each state. There’s no community in any of the geo-political zones where we don’t have a rural solar light intervention. We’ve had solar panels, we have mini-grids and all of that in all the zones.”
He added that the government agency deserves special attention from the Federal Government for its impact.
“It is a high-performing agency. I don’t talk about individuals, I’m talking about the agency itself and the outputs. All of us in this room come from communities, we are from different states here, but if you name your state, I will tell you which local government and which community we have impacted.
“I am convinced that the agency has performed satisfactorily in my judgment. Your judgment may be superior to mine, but I know it is a star agency that deserves special attention,” he said.
In terms of impact, the REA is implementing one of the biggest electrification projects in sub-Saharan Africa, the Nigeria Electrification Project, with funding from the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
In terms of off-grid electrification, the Agency, in the last three years completed the first R Electrification Fund Call delivering 12 solar hybrid mini-grids and over 19,000 solar home systems. The second REF Call projects are ongoing to deliver a total of 51 additional solar hybrid mini-grids.
