The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) have signed an agreement in Abuja to accelerate Nigeria’s shift to clean energy and support innovation and skills development.
The partnership is built on five areas: promoting education and innovation, scaling up workforce training, supporting state-level policy reforms, mobilising financing, and advancing research and communication.
REA’s Managing Director, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, said the deal would support the government’s renewable energy goals and help attract sustainable investment. He described it as a step towards making Nigeria a renewable energy hub while cutting governance costs and encouraging local manufacturing.
UNDP’s Resident Representative in Nigeria, Elsie G. Attafuah, said the partnership would expand access to clean energy, create jobs, and empower young people. She highlighted the importance of turning natural resources such as lithium into high-value renewable products like battery systems.
The agreement also includes plans to integrate UNDP’s University Innovation Pods into REA’s Energising Education Programme, turning federal universities and teaching hospitals into innovation hubs, and expanding the agency’s NEXTGEN initiative to train future clean energy professionals.
