SUNREF € 70m green energy financing will make manufactured goods competitive - MAN

A70 million euro financing for businesses for green energy projects provided by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Union Infrastructure Trust Fund (EU-ITF) will aid the competitiveness of products manufactured in Nigeria, some manufacturers have said.

At the recent virtual launch of the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Finance (SUNREF), the organisers said the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and Winrock International, a Us-based non-profit working to improve energy access around the world, would act as custodians of the fund created to assist manufacturers deal with inadequate energy supply.

Mansur Ahmed, president of MAN, in a speech read by a representative, said the challenge of inadequate electricity supply was hindering the growth and competitiveness of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria.

“It is the reason why Nigerian manufactured products are not competitively internationally,” Ahmed said.

The MAN president said that the SUNREF project would improve access to reliable energy and promote green energy initiatives through financing of diverse kinds of green energy projects in the country.

“These will have multiplier effect on the growth and competitiveness of the manufacturing sector in Nigeria,” Ahmed added.

The organisation listed the benefits of the project to include access to alternative energy, reduction in energy savings, reduction in negative environmental impact in terms of carbon emission, reduction in cost of production and improved competitiveness.

The opportunity to have access to finance through a project of this nature will scale up investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy and deepen the energy mix in the country, the group said.

Saleh Mamman, minister of power who was represented by a director in the ministry, commended AFD and the European Union Infrastructure Trust Fund (EU-ITF) for the initiative and stressed that financing had been a knotty key issue in the development of the renewable energy sector in the country.

It was quite exciting when the donors settled on MAN and Winrock as anchors of the programme as it will go a long way to improve the performance of the Federal Government in fulfilling its obligations under Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 13, which speaks to improved energy access and reducing climate change impacts, the minister said.

Through this grant, the SUNREF Nigeria programme will provide technical assistance to MAN, partner banks, and companies in Nigeria towards the development of energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) projects.

In Nigeria where access to energy is far from universal, limited energy security and rising energy prices will likely continue to challenge the growth of Nigerian businesses in the near future.