Template for Solar-Powered Minigrids Emerges in Nigeria

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June 4, 2018

In a developing country with a population of 186 million people, only a lucky few who live in central locations throughout Nigeria have access to power. Most of the population live in small rural communities that have no access to power in any way. However, that all looks set to change as a handful of solar-powered minigrids are being trialed across some of the most poverty affected areas. The future of sustainable, energy living is looking bright for Nigeria. From better insulation, to solar energy, there are a number of improvements being made thoughout the nation.

Lack of power in Nigeria

Nigeria’s power grid simply isn’t big enough to support the size and population of the country. As the majority of the population lives in small, somewhat isolated villages, this means that a huge proportion of the country’s residents live without power. Extending the grid to cover all of the country is too costly, and because these small communities are so poor, there is no possible way for investors to earn back any money by extending the power grid. Javier Betancourt, the chief of party for the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Project (REEEP) in Nigeria, explained that funding this development would actually cause investors to lose money: ‘There are many communities – most, actually – where extending the grid is a net present value-losing proposition. You will never get enough money out of these communities to justify doing this.’

This means that without looking for another solution, the remainder of the country would remain powerless for the foreseeable future. The introduction of minigrids could be the ideal solution.

The trialed minigrid

A mingrid is currently being trialed in the rural town of Gbamu Gbamu, population of 3,000. The minigrid is solar-powered and installed with 30 kilowatt solar panels, as well as backup batteries and a generator to ensure the town never has to go without power again. The minigrid is thought to be much more secure than the main grid currently in place to support Nigeria. Even towns and cities in Nigeria that are on the grid may only get enough power for a few hours a day, or have to put up with frequent power outages. The lucky residents of Gbamu Gbamu could actually end up with a more reliable source of power than the rest of the country.

Financial backing

Of course, finding funding for minigrids is not much easier than finding funding to extend the main grid, but it is hoped that by breaking the supply of power down into smaller chunks will attract investors who have less to lose if the venture should prove unprofitable. The initial trial has been supported by government grants and charitable givings, as well as support from crowdfunding campaigns. It is hoped that the trial of this minigid will successfully show that once these forgotten communities have a power source, they have the ability to turn their communities around and be more profitable, thus making the venture more appealing to energy companies and likely investors.

Moving forward with minigrids

The future of Nigeria looks a little brighter with the help of solar-power minigrids. Bolade Soremekun, the CEO of Rubitec Solar and the investor behind the Gbamu Gbamu minigrid, has already planned to construct between five and 10 more trial minigrids over the next two years. He firmly believes that once investors see the success of a few minigrids, they will see the scalability in the project and want to build hundreds across the country. This will mean a profitable venture for the investors and a better quality of life for the Nigerian population.

by Ada Scott contributed this piece.

Nigeria Must Advance the Production, Dissemination and Usage of Knowledge

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Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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June 4, 2018

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Good people, I was jealous today in the positive sense of it: Europe is collecting ideas to map a future. They are simply harvesting ideas from around the world, challenging and testing their own hypotheses. Everything was programmed.

Some of European Commission leaders who manage billions of Euros just look ordinary. They took notes, asked questions and followed up. There were no endless greetings and protocols [that irritating part of events in Nigeria]. It was all business. They do this every two years but this year’s one is blowing my mind. I mean, there is big innovation in how future conferences would be run.

Yes, besides panels and plenary they added gaming. A team from Holland built this remarkable game to model the EU countries in 2050 with possibilities and scenarios. Predict your world, they would design it in real-time. The market and political forces become the competition vectors, translating into jobs, wages, healthcare and more.

Nigeria is losing grounds. We are not thinking. We are just eating eba, amala and wasting hours. We desperately need to have debates (especially at presidential and governorship levels) for our politicians for 2019 elections. Someone has to sponsor a Bill to make this a law. Possibly, that process will improve the quality of the system.

Sure, debate may not be the key element for determining leadership capabilities. But at least it forces the person to think about issues as he/she prepares. We need to elevate the production, dissemination and usage of knowledge in the process of governance in Nigeria if we hope to make progress, at scale.

There is no problem in electricity, road construction, transportation or agriculture that someone has not thought about in Africa. From our universities to our research institutes, we have inventions (yes, ideas) for most of the challenges. But despite these inventions, we do not have the products as we continue to experience poor electricity supply, poor roads, poor transportation networks, etc. If you visit food and drinking joints across most African cities, you will be amazed on ideas emanating from people on how to fix our challenges. Indeed, our continent is rich in invention. We are creative.

I am attending the European Commission Knowledge Week in Brussels

Liberate Your Mindset

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Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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June 4, 2018

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Liberate your mindset and think abundance. Your vision cannot be impactful if you dwell on scarcity. The best energies are released when optimism triumphs over scarcity. Have a shift of your mindset and begin to like the world you live. To thrive in a class, it is always good to like the teacher. To get the best from the world, it makes sense to imagine a hopeful world.

To unlock breakthrough in Nigeria, you must see the nation as having the capacity to offer one. If you think nothing can happen, you would experience a stunted mission. And without the certainty of the mission, the result is likely an uncertainty of the vision.

Only you can do this shift. As you walk on the streets of Lagos, Kano and Aba, depending on your mindset, you may feel lost. But in those cities, people are experiencing their moments. The cities would not change to accommodate you: you would have to change to align.

An abundant mindset activates awareness: you see opportunities where people just complain. And because of your optimistic mission, you can go out to pursue them. It takes a man who believes there would be tomorrow to start a company in Yola, Uyo and Lokoja. For many others, Nigeria was unborn tomorrow, but buried yesterday!

Still in Brussels attending the EC Knowledge Week.

Fasmicro Selects Abuja and Aba for Zenvus Demo Farms

By

Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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June 4, 2018

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Today, Fasmicro Group finalized the processes to establish Zenvus Demo Farms in two Nigerian cities – Aba and Abuja. These demo farms would help governments and cooperatives [our major focus at the moment] experience deeper engagements in our award-winning technologies. We would plant rice in Abuja demo farm. Aba demo farm will be for maize. Through these farms, we would showcase our innovations in live sessions for clients.

Fasmicro Group completed the acquisitions of the lands which we will also use to demonstrate the best practices in modern technology-driven agriculture in Nigeria.

Similar farms are planned for Zambia and Zimbabwe. Our vision is to anchor a new framework for Africa’s agriculture and we are working towards just that.

The farms would be launched in 2019 during the wet farming season.

CPC’s Mistake on Nigeria’s 0.005 Electronic Transaction Levy

By

Ndubuisi Ekekwe

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June 4, 2018

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I noted few days that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as part of the implementation of a certain section of the Cybercrime Act 2015 would be collecting a new levy on all electronic transactions into a National Cyber Security Fund account with the CBN. The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) hates that because it would make your phone calls and browsing more expensive since telcos would pass the costs to you. Banks, insurers and fintechs would also help to collect the new levies since anything electronic transaction would be levied the 0.005%.

But that is not the end of this matter as the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), a government-funded consumer protection institution, has put a note that telecom operators or other institutions cannot transfer the operating costs to customers [ we do assume CPC meant the 0.005% related operating cost].

The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has said telecom operators’ decision to transfer their operating cost to customers is unacceptable.

The Director-General of CPC, Babatunde Irukera, made this known at end of the E-Payment Providers Association of Nigeria workshop in Lagos on Sunday.

According to him, the 0.005 per cent directive imposed by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on all electronic transactions is an operational cost for operators and should not in any way be transferred to customers.

“At CPC, our main focus is the customer; that they are treated with fairness and with transparency.

“We are unwilling to accept the decision of operators to transfer the cost of business to consumers.

“What they provide is airtime and broadband and if they decide to make additional things to secure consumers, it is cost of business to them,” he said.

Certainly, no one will listen to CPC as any company that cannot cover its “operating cost” will cease to be in business, over time. While the CPC has the best of intentions, making such demands which no one would likely honor simply makes it irrelevant. I do hope this educates and informs CPC: all government imposed levies, taxes and fees are typically paid by customers. Where CPC does not want the banks, telcos and other digital institutions to charge customers more, specially related to his 0.005% levy, it needs to focus on government and ask it to drop the levy.