REA, NCC Plan Joint Rural Power and Telecom Pilots

By Atlantic Reports

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) are planning pilot projects that would connect rural electricity infrastructure with telecommunications networks.

The proposed initiative would enable mini-grids to supply power to mobile network operators’ base stations, with the aim of reducing diesel consumption and improving access to reliable electricity and digital services.

REA Managing Director Dr Abba Aliyu disclosed the plans on Tuesday at the Rural Connect 2.0 Summit in Lagos. He was represented by the agency’s Executive Director, Technical, Umar A. Umar.

Aliyu said a joint committee was identifying suitable locations following a memorandum of understanding signed by the agencies in July 2026.

Site Audits Before Deployment

According to Aliyu, three subcommittees have assessed business models, funding options, technical standards and capacity-building needs.

“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 said.

The initiative remains at the assessment stage. The supplied account did not identify pilot locations, committed funding, participating operators or a deployment timetable.

Aliyu said combining renewable energy systems with telecommunications infrastructure could lower operating costs and improve service reliability. Those benefits remain expectations to be tested through the pilots.

Electricity Access and Diesel Dependence

Aliyu put Nigeria’s household electrification rate at approximately 60 per cent and said more than 11,000 rural base stations relied on power arrangements contributing to substantial diesel consumption.

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

The account did not identify the underlying study or reporting period for those estimates.

Aliyu also outlined REA’s existing electricity-access programmes. He said the Nigeria Electrification Project had supported 380 grant agreements with developers, resulting in more than 150 commissioned hybrid solar mini-grids and approximately 1.45 million deployed solar home systems.

These figures distinguish grant agreements from commissioned infrastructure, which represent different stages of delivery.

He said the $750 million Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up programme targets 1,350 mini-grids, including 250 interconnected systems, and is expected to provide new electricity access to about 17.5 million Nigerians.

Those are programme targets rather than completed connections. He also cited a national ambition for universal electricity access by 2030, requiring an estimated $23 billion to connect 22 million households.

Connectivity Beyond Network Coverage

Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria President Tony Emoekpere urged stakeholders to assess rural connectivity through actual use and community benefits, rather than coverage alone.

He said connecting schools, primary healthcare centres, local government institutions and agricultural cooperatives to shared networks could strengthen demand and make rural services more sustainable.

Emoekpere called for connectivity planning to be incorporated into mini-grid projects from the outset. He also advocated support for local internet service providers and community-based operators.

He argued that government and development partners must help serve communities where limited commercial returns could discourage private investment.

Summit convener Omobayo Azeez said the event aimed to build partnerships towards connecting Nigeria’s next 25 million internet users. The Business Metrics-organised summit carried the theme “Rural Connectivity at Scale”.

For underserved communities, the proposed pilots will need to demonstrate more than infrastructure sharing. Their value will depend on reliable power, affordable connectivity and services that households, schools, health facilities and businesses can use.

Atlantic Reports: Voices. People. Facts.