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Africa’s sleeping green giant is waking up
Long a climate minnow, Nigeria is at last catching up with its peers on the continent… and never short of bluster, it hopes to dwarf them
Hello – this week we resolve a mystery. Given its size and dynamism, why has Nigeria long been absent from Africa’s green economy? And why is that changing now… and how?
It is a country of superlatives. Nigeria ranks top in Africa in so many areas (oil production and film-making as well as corruption and insurgency). That made its absence in the climate space all the more notable. And its takeoff now intriguing.
⏳ Today’s reading time: 4 mins
LOGISTICS UPDATE | Thursday 2 May
EVENTS…
🌐 The Incorporated Society of Planters launches in Abuja (May 24)
🌐 Renewable energy project finance & modelling (May 28)
🖥️ Webinar: Digital solutions for renewable energy growth (May 8)
AND JOBS…
💼 UNICEF seeks health facility solar electrification specialist (Uganda)
💼 Commonwealth national climate finance adviser vacancy (Moz)
💼 WFP seeks resilience & impact evaluation consultant (Chad)
1.🚁 Heli view: Nigeria’s green economy takes off – at last
The ambition is remarkable. The Nigerian government has announced plans to plant 2 billion trees.
That’s more trees than the rest of the world together plants in a year.
Tonal change: Showing off a focus on climate, Nigeria sent the largest African delegation to COP28 in December.
Its 1,411 delegates were only trumped by missions from Brazil and China.
New boss: The focus on climate is led by President Bola Tinubu, who was elected a year ago.
He personally announced the launch of Nigeria’s first 100 electric buses.
Stark contrast: Nigeria had long lagged other green economies in Africa, failing to invest in cleantech.
Energy gap: The failure to build a green economy is especially evident in access to electricity.
Kenya used a high rate of renewables (95%) to push grid connections to above 80% of the population.
But Nigeria still only gets 28% of its power from renewables. And 90 million of its people (45%) lack grid power.
The country has the highest number of people worldwide without access to electricity, and the gap widened in the past decade. Population growth beat electrification.
Unexpected blindspot: Failing to see the potential of the green economy in the past decade was odd for Nigeria. Its dynamic business community leads the continent in many other sectors.
Catching up: Belatedly now Nigerian business and politics are applying the same determination to succeed in the green economy.
President Tinubu is creating frameworks for a $2.5 billion carbon market.
He also promised a “new dawn” in agriculture, which employs 70% of Nigerians, by making it sustainable.
Bureaucratic changes include a National Council on Climate Change (predating Tinubu) and a Presidential Power Initiative.
The country also established public alliances for Responsible Battery Recycling, Food and Beverages Recycling and E-waste Producer Responsibility.
Early fruits: Business has started to embrace the green economy now that foreign money is coming.
In collaboration with the Chinese government, over $5.8 billion has been invested in adding 3 Gigawatt (or 25% to current grid capacity).
A collaboration between the World Bank, AfDB and the Africa Growing Together Fund is supplying $550 million in new funding.
Head scratching: So why did Nigeria’s green economy take so long to take off? Three reasons:
Oil: The dominance of hydrocarbons – and related private interests – hindered energy diversification.
Politics: Instability and corruption undermined the transition, deterring investors and delaying regulations.
Size: Everything is slower in a country with 230 million people that produces 32 million tonnes of waste annually, making it the world’s seventh biggest polluter.
Changing winds: That the green economy seems to accelerate now is mainly due to politics.
The government gained new momentum and ambitions after the 2023 election.
Drastic fuel price increases have made the old energy system increasingly painful.
Awareness of untapped green opportunities is at last taking hold – from critical minerals, ecotourism and electric mobility to 12 million new jobs in renewable energy.
Future ambitions: Nigeria is already thinking ahead of its peers on the continent.
Ifeoma Malo, CEO of the Clean Tech Hub in Abuja, hopes that Nigeria, using its manpower, can lead in technical assistance in the green economy.
Realism needed: The country still has a long road ahead. But few peers have its track record of winning.
2. Cheat sheet: Five Nigerian climate tech companies on the rise
(i) Clean Technology Hub: A pioneering hybrid for the research, demonstration and incubation of clean and green ideas and technologies in Africa and their validation for commercial-stage development.
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