By Innocent Obasi
Nigeria has created a robust market position in decentralised renewable energy (DRE) and is poised to reap the benefits as it addresses energy poverty and rural unemployment, according to a new report.
According to the report, the DRE sector in Nigeria has been expanding rapidly and providing clean, affordable energy, especially to isolated rural regions. It is also currently a significant source of decent, steady jobs, almost equal to those in the country’s oil and gas sector.
In comparison to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, which employs 65,000 people, the DRE sector, which comprises pico-solar products, solar household systems, and commercial and industrial (C&I) standalone systems, currently employs 50,000 people. By 2023, it is anticipated that the country’s demand for DRE products will have added over 76,000 new jobs. This is more than twice as many DRE jobs than were added in 2019, according to the study.
Following the newly unveiled Nigeria Energy Transition Plan, which sets the nation’s goals and objectives to attain net-zero emissions by 2060 while simultaneously ending energy poverty, the sector is further anticipated to develop.
“The report demonstrates the health and viability of the DRE sector to help not only accelerate the country’s energy access agenda but also to help alleviate unemployment, especially in rural areas,” said Suranjana Ghosh, director for campaigns and partnership, Power for All.
The research is based on a survey of more than 350 firms across five countries: Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda. It was made possible by the kind support of The Rockefeller Foundation, Good Energies Foundation, and the European Programme GET. invest. It offers a thorough overview of employment in the DRE industry, covering topics like recruitment, skill levels of the DRE workforce, availability of and investment in training, compensation levels, participation of women, and workforce retention.
Nigeria experienced the quickest post-pandemic recovery and development in DRE jobs among the nations examined. Almost 2,000 DRE jobs were lost nationwide in 2020 as a result of the pandemic’s immediate effects.
With roughly 50,000 jobs added in 2021—nearly twice as many as were projected in 2020—the industry did, however, see a significant recovery. The speedy growth and recovery were largely attributed to the demand for Solar Home Systems products, which was already on an increasing trend before the epidemic.
According to the research, the industry is maturing as seen by the fact that more than 56 percent of the country’s DRE workforce is made up of formal and skilled professionals. With the development of technologies and the increasing need for advanced technical professions like installation experts and maintenance specialists, mature DRE markets tend to have a relatively high share of skilled laborers.
Like the other study countries, however, the renewable energy sector in Nigeria still struggles to fully integrate women into the workforce, a problem that the pandemic only served to intensify.
“The share of women working in the DRE sector in Nigeria was 37 percent behind Kenya’s 41 percent which was also the highest. Notably, in the countries studied, female participation was higher in DRE than in the traditional energy sector at only 22 percent, and in the broader renewable energy sector at 32 percent,” Ifeoma Malo, CEO of Clean Technology Hub, noted.
This, according to her, shows the role that DRE can play in bringing more women into more meaningful workforce positions.
“Despite the growth in the number of jobs, DRE companies surveyed as part of this study have indicated that they struggle to fill critical roles due to a lack of qualified applicants. This shortage of skilled workers is expected to get worse as the sector grows and the world transitions away from fossil fuels,” Malo said.
“This report is coming at a very auspicious time because with the very recent release of Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan, the report provides a great opportunity for decision makers in government as well as industry actors to apply a job and economic growth lens in implementing the plan. This #PoweringJobs report makes this easier because it provides the data, and the numbers for what is possible when decentralized renewables is a core part of the transition,” she said.
The research urged swift action to close the widening skills gap. It noted that cooperation between numerous stakeholders—educational institutions, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), the government, and DRE businesses—is necessary to assist the reskilling and upskilling of the DRE workforce. In order for the sector to realize its potential to provide modern energy (SDG 7), as well as good work and decent jobs (SDG 8), in the nation, a successful focused approach will assist the industry’s growth and scalability, the report said..
