The federal government has launched a drive to provide dedicated electricity to industrial clusters nationwide, beginning with a 50-megawatt project expected to supply 24-hour power to manufacturers at the Idu Industrial Estate in Abuja.
Owan Enoh, Minister of State for Industry, said the initiative forms part of the government’s broader industrialisation strategy aimed at reducing production costs, expanding local manufacturing and creating jobs.
Speaking Thursday at the groundbreaking of the Abuja project, Enoh said unreliable electricity remained a major constraint on industrial productivity and that efforts to renew the manufacturing sector would be difficult without addressing Nigeria’s energy deficit.
He said the government’s industrial strategy was focused on local production, value addition, economic diversification and stronger integration of Nigerian businesses into global markets.
‘When you produce locally, you contribute to job creation. For our abundant youth, you provide for them a pathway for employment,’ Enoh said.
He added that higher domestic production would reduce reliance on imported goods, conserve foreign exchange and strengthen the economy against external disruptions.
According to Enoh, the administration was seeking to move beyond policy declarations by developing practical models that could be replicated across industrial clusters.
The Abuja project, he said, was an example of how dependable electricity could enable factories to increase production, expand operations and hire more workers.
Enoh said the industrial power initiative should be viewed as part of a broader effort to rebuild Nigeria’s productive capacity rather than as an isolated electricity project.
Reliable power, he said, would improve factory utilisation, encourage local sourcing of raw materials, increase value addition and create employment.
‘Industrial renewal is not a sprint. It is a marathon,’ Enoh said, calling for sustained cooperation among government, the private sector and beneficiary communities to protect the infrastructure and ensure the projects deliver their intended economic benefits.
He said the government’s objective was to shift from an economy constrained by unreliable infrastructure to one where industrial production could operate continuously and compete more effectively.
The initiative is also linked to President Bola Tinubu’s target of building a $1 trillion economy, which the government says will require higher productivity and deeper industrialisation rather than continued dependence on raw-material exports.
Afolabi Aiyela, Managing Director of Welbeck Electricity Distribution Limited, said the Abuja project would initially generate 10MW from a site near the AKK gas pipeline in Zuba. The electricity will be transmitted to the Idu Industrial Estate through a 33-kilovolt line.
He said the remaining 40MW would be developed within the industrial estate once the gas pipeline is extended to the area. The estate currently has potential electricity demand of between 300MW and 400MW, indicating the scale of the power shortfall facing manufacturers.
Aiyela said the first phase would prioritise Nigerian small and medium-sized enterprises and large indigenous companies, with subsequent phases expected to extend coverage to other manufacturers in the estate.
Joseph Tegbe, minister of power, said the government was adopting captive and decentralised generation to connect electricity production directly to industrial consumers.
He said technical audits were also being conducted on power infrastructure along major industrial corridors, with the Lagos industrial axis, Abuja-Kaduna corridor and Enugu-Onitsha axis identified as priorities.
Tegbe said the Lagos industrial corridor accounts for about 40% of national electricity demand and that interventions to improve supply were expected to create or restore about 180,000 jobs there within six months.
He cautioned that resolving Nigeria’s power challenges would require sustained investment across the electricity value chain, from gas supply and generation to transmission and distribution. Vandalism and energy theft, he said, also pose significant threats to investment.
The government is considering extending gas pipelines to industrial locations or generating electricity in gas-rich areas and transmitting it to industrial centres, Tegbe disclosed