Nigeria secures $425m to build solar manufacturing base

By: Amarachi Okonkwo 

Nigeria has attracted about $425m in investments in 2025 to establish eight renewable energy manufacturing facilities, as the government intensifies efforts to boost local solar panel production and position the country as a clean energy hub in West Africa.

The Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu, disclosed this during a webinar hosted by the African Association of Energy Journalists and Publishers. He said the inflow reflects rising investor confidence driven by targeted government policies aimed at strengthening local manufacturing capacity and attracting private capital.

Aliyu noted that Nigeria’s installed local manufacturing capacity has expanded from about 120 megawatts to roughly 300 megawatts, with an additional 3.7 gigawatts in the pipeline. According to him, the growth is the result of a deliberate strategy to build a viable renewable energy ecosystem anchored on private sector participation.

He added that the country is already seeing early gains from this strategy, with locally manufactured solar panels now being exported from Lagos to Accra, Ghana an indication of Nigeria’s emerging role in regional clean energy supply chains.

Read Also:

• MTN suspends xtratime as Nigeria tightens digital credit laws
• CBN Warns Customers Not To Share PINs, Passwords

“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.

Beyond manufacturing, he explained that regulatory reforms are being implemented to improve project viability and unlock more private investment into the sector. Nigeria’s renewable energy model, particularly its approach to electricity access, is also gaining recognition across the continent.

Countries including Mozambique, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Mauritania, and Mauritius are engaging with Nigeria to understand and potentially replicate its framework, he said.

Central to this strategy is the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) programme, which Aliyu described as the largest publicly funded renewable energy access initiative globally.

 The $750m programme is designed to expand electricity access through mini-grids and off-grid solutions, leveraging a results-based financing model that requires developers to mobilise upfront capital before accessing incentives.

The initiative is expected to unlock an additional $1.1bn in private sector investment, with backing from financial institutions such as Citibank Nigeria, Lotus Bank, and the International Finance Corporation.

Analysts say the combination of policy reforms, local manufacturing expansion, and innovative financing models could significantly accelerate Nigeria’s energy transition while strengthening its position in Africa’s renewable energy value chain.