Nigeria to become largest renewable energy employer in Africa

Nigeria is expected to become the largest Decentralised Renewable Energy (DRE) employer in Africa this year, creating jobs and curbing poverty.

Hannibal Birhane, research manager, Power for All, made this known in a virtual event, hosted by Power for All and CleanTech Hub themed: Launch PoweringJobs Census 2022: The Energy Access Workforce Nigeria.

Power for All’s research manager added that DRE will create over 76,000 jobs next year, overtaking the oil and gas sector.

He added that DRE drives job creation while ending energy poverty, as 374,000 jobs will be created across Africa and 80,000 across India in 2022.

Hannibal also indicated that Pico and Solar Home Systems (SHS) are the engines driving employment in Africa including Nigeria.

He added that globally, women represent 32 percent of employees in the renewable energy sectors compared to 22 percent in oil and gas.

According to him, four technology categories that will boost jobs include Pico solar, SHS, C&I standalone systems and mini-grids.

Read also: Nigerian women inclusion in renewable energy reached 37% in 2021

He further said, “The DRE sector employed 50,000 Nigerian last year. The sector surpassed the pre-pandemic level of employment last year.

“More than 75,000 Nigerians are expected to be employed by the DRE industry next year.”

Concerning the technology categories that will drive employment, Anand said Pico and SHS account for 95 percent of direct employment.

He further said that the share of mini-grid and C&I is expected to increase due to investment in mini-grid and increased demand to address reliability.

Birhane said that 35 percent of DRE workers are women, which increased from 27 percent in 2019. However, it is still lower than the rate of participation in the general economy. To improve women’s inclusion, skill-training programs are crucial in improving participation in technical and managerial roles.