Reporting short, medium, and long-term challenges and successes in the rise of renewable energy sources in Nigeria requires that journalists have a clear understanding of what the real issues are.
This is why in marking its fourth anniversary the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN) has reached out to journalists and media practitioners in a spirit of collaboration, through virtual training at the weekend, sponsored by All On, a renewable energy investment company backed by Royal Dutch Shell.
The training was facilitated by Taiwo Obe, founder of the Journalism Clinic, Lagos who handed his ‘Senses, Think, Act, Report’ (STAR) keys to journalists as part of a strategy for sniffing out stories in the industry.
REAN was formally launched on the 4th November 2016 according to the information found on its website but began full operations in March 2017. The association’s 130 plus members are 12 percent female-owned or led. There are 60 solar home systems (SHS) developers and 70 mini-grid developers. These members have created a combined 7, 000 jobs, nearly.
“We believe close collaboration with journalists and other media professionals will help tell a better story of the innovations and inventions of our members in addition to holding the government to account,” Lande Abudu, executive secretary of REAN said. “There are so many untold stories in the sector.”
Nigeria has a population of more than 200 million, with an estimated 85 million people lacking access to electricity and 176 million people without access to clean cooking fuels or technologies.
Experts have said that the COVID-19 recovery offers a particularly unique moment for the country to reset and accelerate progress on delivering sustainable energy for all.
Nigeria’s recently released economic recovery plan has energy access embedded within it, and many of the commitments put forward in the plan would have been unimaginable just 10 months ago.
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