UKNIAF Collaborates With Nigeria Governors’ Forum To Hold Milestone Roundtable on Electricity Act 2023

A roundtable on the Electricity Act 2023 was jointly convened by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the British High Commission on October 25-26, 2023.

Facilitated by the United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF), the roundtable was themed ‘The Electricity Act 2023: Implications and Opportunities for State Electricity Markets.’ It aimed to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats linked to the new Electricity Act 2023 and strategies for navigating emerging challenges.

The roundtable was attended by representatives from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Ministry of Power, state governments, heads of agencies and senior management personnel from Federal Ministries, Departments and Parastatals. Private sector attendees included representatives from International Development Agencies and Development Finance Institutions. 

The event featured keynote papers from technical experts and panel discussions with industry actors in Nigeria and abroad.

In her welcome speech, the British Deputy High Commissioner, Gill Atkinson, noted that the new provision for state governments to generate, transmit and distribute electricity is critical in reducing the energy deficit in Nigeria. “This is the time to explore new opportunities to scale up electricity and deliver it to more Nigerians.”

Highlights from the roundtable sessions and panel discussions include the recognition that not all states are positioned to take immediate advantage of opportunities, the need for a context-specific approach that accommodates the unique challenges and limitations of states as well as the need to create the enabling environment to attract investment.  Industry experts and sector stakeholders cited critical enablers in progressing the Electricity Act as orderly transition, stakeholder engagement and management, market coordination and governance and regional collaboration.

Outcomes from the roundtable included an agreement on the need for state governments to identify and prioritise opportunities for joined-up initiatives at the regional level to ensure cohesive implementation of the Electricity Act. 

Some identified next steps for states include, the development of transition roadmaps based on contextual stocktake exercises, the deployment of broad-based professional expertise to build sector capacity and support the process and the identification of clear state-level market structures. 

Another key outcome from the roundtable was consensus on the urgent need for the donor community and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to scale up their support to state governments, bearing in mind state-level contextual realities.

The Chairman of the NGF added, “Through these collaborations, we seek to achieve the following objectives – capacity building, policy guidance, knowledge sharing and above all infrastructural/project development by supporting state governments in identifying and developing bankable projects in the electricity sector, ensuring that these projects meet the highest standards of technical, social, and environmental sustainability.”

At the roundtable closing, Thomas Pascoe, the Project Director at UKNIAF, concluded, “The issue of the Nigerian energy sector is not talent, it is structure – the structure to grow, thrive and improve state economies. These discussions have now set the course for a promising future in the energy sector, driven by clarity, collaboration, and a commitment to excellence.”