- Adelabu acknowledged challenges including limited affordable financing, high rural energy costs, and under-utilisation of productive renewable equipment across communities.
- He reaffirmed government commitment to private partnerships, policy reforms, and local manufacturing to drive renewable energy expansion across underserved communities.
The minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, has said Nigeria is set to secure a $190m renewable energy loan from Japan.
Adelabu made the disclosure during the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama, Japan, on Saturday.
According to the ministry, the loan is being facilitated through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The minister explained that the facility is designed to expand distributed renewable energy solutions across underserved communities nationwide.
“This builds on the recently launched $750m World Bank Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme under the Mission 300 Compact, which aims to bring clean and reliable electricity to more than 17 million Nigerians,” the ministry said.
Adelabu also met with Japanese corporations, including Toshiba, Hitachi, and Japan’s transmission and distribution firms, to discuss infrastructure upgrades and system efficiency.
The discussions, according to the ministry, focused on strengthening transmission capacity, improving operational efficiency, and cutting system losses.
“These engagements built on the recent Federal Executive Council approvals for counterpart funding of N19,083,192,805.30 to catalyse a loan funding of $238m from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA),” the statement added.
The projects will cover new transmission lines, substations, and line bay extensions to expand grid capacity.
The ministry revealed that three JICA-funded substations, worth $32m, are ready for commissioning in Apo, Keffi, and Apapa.
It added that the facilities would boost electricity supply to homes, industries, and clusters such as the Lagos Port.
During a panel session, Adelabu said only 55 to 60 per cent of Nigerians currently had access to electricity, much of it unreliable.
He explained that the government was expanding urban grid connections while accelerating rural off-grid solutions, including solar mini-grids and standalone systems.
Adelabu admitted that limited capital, high rural costs, and under-utilisation of equipment remained major barriers to renewable energy adoption.
He, however, promised that the government was committed to tackling the challenges through policies, private investment, and local manufacturing.
The minister also praised JICA and the Japanese government for their long-standing role in funding, training, and technical support in Nigeria’s power sector.
He expressed optimism that collaboration between both countries would strengthen the nation’s energy development drive.
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