Recommendation 17

HM Government Acknowledged

We agree with this recommendation and it aligns with our existing work and approach in this area. The UK Government is supportive of Nigeria’s transition to a low carbon economy and is working with international partners to this end, including through our participation in development partner working groups on topics including energy, agriculture and climate. The UK Government is also supporting work to develop Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan, working with the EU, Germany and the World Bank. The World Bank has joined the UK Government in preparing the Energy Integrated Resource Plan which will assess Nigeria’s demand and supply for generation, transmission and distribution and off-grid energy for the next 10 years. The UK Government is helping develop public-private partnership projects for Development Finance Institutions (such as the African Development Bank), as well as the private sector, which will support Nigeria’s transition to a low carbon economy. Examples include Lagos Waterways, Ogun and Kaduna bus rapid transits, agricultural storage and sustainable agri-processing zones (Oyo and Kaduna) and sustainable industrial zones in Kano and Kaduna. The UK Government is also supporting Nigeria’s green sectors through our Manufacturing Africa programme. This has included supporting analysis on the viability of organic fertiliser using Black Soldier Fly, and support for MaxNG, an electric vehicle firm, to attract investment including from a BII venture capital fund. Manufacturing Africa has also supported Hinckley with its battery recycling, and Auxano (a Nigerian company) with solar panel production. Steamaco is an example of a company supported by DIT, FCDO, the FCDO’s Manufacturing Africa and UK Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility programmes. Steamaco has been supported to accredit its smart metering and analytical software to detect energy theft and then to form a joint venture to manufacture the meters in Nigeria. The UK Government is supporting Nigeria’s transition to green energy and has taken the lead in pushing for progress on 14 stalled on-grid solar power plants - two of which have direct UK investment and one of which has Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) financing. These will take time, and there remain challenges associated with Nigeria’s on-grid power sector. The UK Government has also actively supported Konexa, a UK company with a new model of green energy delivery. This support has included a grant, and support to obtain land and permits to operate. Once concluded this will be the largest private sector investment in the grid space in Nigeria for over six years. The UK Government is also supporting projects focussed on waste management and agriculture, as part of our overall effort to support Nigeria’s transition to a low carbon economy. Examples include: our support to Pyrogensys, who received a grant and with advice on its customs challenges – its technology, developed in alliance with Leeds University, creates biofuels and energy from cassava waste; and, with ReGen Farms’ (a Devon based company) support to onboard 30,000 farmers in the third poorest state in Nigeria to an artificial intelligence platform which will help regenerate land that is otherwise at risk of becoming desert, supported by the LINKS programme. ReGen is now raising capital to expand its business. Nigerian rice farmers (rice produces more GHG emissions globally than aviation) are also being advised, by the LINKS programme, on techniques which produce less methane and also use less seeds, water and fertiliser while still increasing yields.