The Chief Executive Officer of All On, one of the leading companies in the global energy market, Dr Wiebe Boer has revealed that 120million Nigerians live without electricity supply.
Boer further stated that millions of Nigerians do not get up to four hours of power supply daily, and added that it was to bridge this yawning gap that All On decided to invest in the energy sector to bring uninterrupted electricity supply to millions of underserved and unserved people in the Niger Delta in particular and Nigeria in general.
Boer made the statement, last Friday, in Port Harcourt, during a press briefing organized by the off-grid investment company, to announce the closing of financial deals with three firms to provide accelerated access to affordable, durable and sustainable energy sources to millions of people without access to electricity supply in the Niger Delta region.
He added that the energy investment company was partnering with solar home system leader, Lumos Global BV; leading mini-grid player, Green Village Electricity; and solar-powered marketplace cold storage business driver, ColdHubs; to rollout and expand much needed energy supply to grossly underserved people of the Niger Delta region and Nigeria in the coming months.
According to him, “These developments are coming barely three months after All-On announced its first set of transactions in Nigeria’s off-grid market, and two months after the firm and U.S. Africa Development Foundation (USADF) announced a $3million partnership to expand access to energy for underserved and unserved markets in Nigeria.
“These investments made in these energy solution providers further demonstrate our firm belief that off-grid energy is indispensable in the improvement of Nigeria’s energy narrative. It, therefore, deserves adequate attention and financial backing from both the public and private sectors”, Boer added.
In his remarks, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, GVE Projects Limited, Ifeanyi Orajaka, said “We at GVE are excited about this relationship with All On”, adding that “An investment from a world-class organisation such as All On further validates our position as one of the leading and most innovative indigenous clean energy solutions providers in Sub-Saharan Africa.”.
Chief Executive Officer, ColdHubs, Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu described the investment as a demonstration of All On’s commitment beyond simply addressing the access to energy gap, to harnessing innovative renewable energy solutions for the preservation of perishable foods in Nigeria.
“This support will enable ColdHubs to further refine its business model to help improve the livelihoods of people and enhance food security in the Niger Delta region”, Ikegwuonu said, adding that it was now set to provide farmers, retailers and wholesalers necessary equipment to enable them preserve their perishable food stocks for as long as 21 days or more before their wears get to end-users.
Also speaking, Lumos’ Chief Executive Officer, Davidi Vortman said, “This debt facility from All On both cements the strategic relationship between our two companies and goes a long way towards significantly accelerating the speed of penetration of Lumos Solar Home Systems in the Niger Delta region.”
Represented by Vice President, Marketing, Ashida Olufemi, Vortman said Lumos was “excited to work with All On to enhance energy access for Nigerians in the Niger Delta and across the country,” and promised to focus on providing access to electricity to underserved and unserved communities in the Niger Delta to accelerate their economic growth and development while also helping to reduce poverty, crime and unemployment.
All On Investment Manager, Florence Okoli said “We have three deals that we signed here today in Port Harcourt, and all of them are helping find solutions to the energy access problems in Nigeria,” and commended the three companies for the successes recorded through the initial pilot projects in the region.
She expressed optimism that the collaboration would go a long way in addressing the energy needs of the people in the Niger Delta.
The Tide investigations revealed that in addition to the 120million without access to electricity, an estimated 20million do not have more than four hours of power supply daily.
Also, only about 10million Nigerians get between eight and 16 hours of electricity supply daily just as around 30million privately generate their own electricity.
Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
