NCC. REA Plan Joint Projects To Cut Telecom Costs

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) are planning joint pilot tasks to combine rural electrical energy infrastructure with telecommunications networks.

The initiative goals to enhance energy provide to rural telecom base stations, cut back diesel consumption and prolong digital providers to underserved communities.

 
REA Managing Director, Dr Abba Aliyu, represented by Executive Director, Technical, Rural Electrification Agency, Umar A. Umar, disclosed this on the Rural Connect 2.0 Summit in Lagos.

 
Aliyu stated the businesses had established a joint committee to establish places the place rural mini-grids might provide electrical energy to cell community operators’ base stations.

 
He stated the REA and NCC signed a Memorandum of Understanding in July 2026 to strengthen collaboration on rural electrical energy and telecommunications infrastructure.

 
According to him, three subcommittees have assessed enterprise fashions, funding choices, technical requirements and capacity-building necessities for the initiative.

 
“The next phase would involve joint physical audits of shortlisted sites, engagement with telecom operators and mini-grid developers, and validation of the proposed business models using operational data,” he stated.

 
Aliyu stated Nigeria’s family electrification fee stood at roughly 60 per cent, whereas greater than 11,000 rural base stations relied on energy sources contributing to important diesel consumption.

 
“The telecom sector was estimated to consume more than 40 million litres of diesel annually to power many rural base stations,” he stated.

 
He stated integrating telecommunications infrastructure with renewable vitality techniques might cut back working prices whereas enhancing electrical energy reliability and digital entry in rural communities.

 
The REA boss stated the company was implementing programmes to develop electrical energy entry by means of mini-grids and photo voltaic residence techniques.

 
He stated the Nigeria Electrification Project had supported 380 grant agreements with builders, leading to greater than 150 commissioned hybrid photo voltaic mini-grids and roughly 1.45 million deployed photo voltaic residence techniques.

 
Aliyu additionally highlighted the company’s $750 million Distributed Access by means of Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme, which targets 1,350 mini-grids, together with 250 interconnected techniques.

 
According to him, the programme is anticipated to offer new electrical energy entry to roughly 17.5 million Nigerians.

 
He stated the National Electricity Strategy and Implementation Plan focused common electrical energy entry by 2030, requiring an estimated $23 billion funding to attach 22 million households.

 
Earlier, the President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr Tony Emoekpere,
urged stakeholders to measure rural connectivity by precise utilization and neighborhood advantages slightly than community protection alone.

 
Emoekpere stated connecting faculties, main healthcare centres, native governments and agricultural cooperatives to shared networks might create a extra sustainable income base for rural telecommunications infrastructure.

 
He urged stakeholders to include connectivity planning into mini-grid tasks from inception, arguing that shared infrastructure might cut back prices and develop entry to electrical energy and digital providers.

 
He additionally referred to as for higher help for native web service suppliers and community-based operators, saying they had been higher positioned to grasp and deal with underserved populations’ wants.

 
Emoekpere stated authorities and growth companions should help rural connectivity as a result of non-public funding alone may not adequately serve communities providing restricted business returns.

 
In his welcome deal with, the convener of the summit, Mr Omobayo Azeez, described rural connectivity as vital to financial alternatives, training, healthcare, monetary inclusion, agriculture and public providers.

 Azeez stated the summit aimed to strengthen partnerships between authorities and business to attach Nigeria’s subsequent 25 million web customers.

 NAN