It once looked like an exclusive preserve of men, now the Nigerian renewable energy sector boasts of women starting and running successful companies. More than half of Nigeria’s estimated 200 million people have no access to electricity through the national grid, and a significant proportion of those who do, experience regular power outages, therefore the problem requires every hand in designing solutions.
And Nigerian women are stepping up to be counted. From running successful Pico solar enterprises in rural areas to large hybrid minigrid solar systems in city suburbs, Nigerian women are defying the odds to deepen energy access for the disadvantaged.
From a company that started with $6, 000 in 2004, Kaduna-based Sosai Renewable Energy Company Ltd, founded by Habiba Ali now has a yearly turnover of over $600,000.
The company which has won several awards and recognition is providing targeted renewable energy solutions to people in rural communities. It studies the challenges of improving energy access in remote communities and work with the local people to advance creative solutions.
“For us at Sosai, solving the universal energy access issue won’t be by providing one lighting solution or one cooking solution but an integrated approach that ensures that not just electricity but energy access as a whole is answered to and this would be for lighting (electricity) cooking and to find some sort of income and that is what we do at Sosai currently,” Ali told Businessday in an exclusive interview.
Heather Onoh, the managing director/ceo of Smarter Grid International (SGI) Limited, has been delivering sustainable electrification and economic development for households and businesses in Nigeria and Sub-saharan Africa.
SGI collaborates with international bodies such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) to provide affordable solar energy solutions using the Pay-as You-go or Lease to Own system.
Ifeoma Malo, CEO of Clean Tech Hub and the Energy Innovation Centre in Abuja creates, through her centre an incubator for new ideas and technologies, and businesses in the off-grid space. She is also the country campaign director for Power For All in Nigeria.
Another entrepreneur, Hannah Kabir, is the founder and CEO of Creeds Energy, a solar energy solutions provider told BusinessDay how she went through challenges, as well as the rewards and of starting and running a renewable energy company.
Kabir said that a dearth of women in the off-grid energy space was the case about 10 years ago but now more women are involved at all levels.
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“We have more women entrepreneurs, CEOS, technical experts, and engineers across the industry.
At Creeds, we are deliberate about inclusivity in the composition of our management and operational team, the interns we groom, as well as in the customers we serve.”
While this is not an exhaustive list, the success of these women entrepreneurs highlights how they are reshaping the off-grid energy landscape in Nigeria.
Yet, they have had to contend with challenges including raising financing, dealing with poor government regulation, and meeting the demands of an exacting market. They also say it is an ongoing struggle to find talent including fellow women who can keep the business alive as well as meeting the expectation to manufacture solar power components locally.
Investors like Shell Nigeria-seeded All On, have come to the rescue providing valuable funding to upscale novel ideas. Some women including Sandra Dozie of Salpha Energy and
Damilola Asaleye of Ashdam Solar Company Limited were among the beneficiaries of the last Energy Challenge it organised with US African Development Foundation (USADF).
Opportunities abound in Nigeria’s fast-growing off-grid market. There are vast applications for solar PV applications ranging from electrification with solar PV systems and mini-grids, commercial captive power generation, agriculture, and agro-processing. These can be complementary within urban, grid-connected locations or decentralised power sources in offgrid, rural locations.
The off-grid solar PV opportunity for standalone systems and mini-grids is estimated at between $10bn and $13bn according to the International Finance Corporation’s ‘Analysis on Climate Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets, 2016’ report.
With a growing population and over 55 percent of the Nigerian populace living without access to electricity due to a failing grid power supply, renewable energy, particularly solar PV technologies and applications, would play an important role in electrification.
There are a few companies that have ventured into assembling solar PV panels in the country and this is commendable. Several initiatives are also pushing for upstream activities especially for solar components to be produced locally.
