The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to power telecommunications infrastructure with renewable energy.
The agreement was signed on Friday at the NCC–REA stakeholder forum held in Abuja.
The deal is expected to enable telecom base stations to draw electricity from existing and planned mini-grids, lowering operating costs while improving broadband access in areas with limited or no access to the national grid.
Speaking at the event, Aminu Maida, executive vice-chairman (EVC) of the NCC, said reliable electricity and digital connectivity are mutually reinforcing pillars of national development.
Maida, represented by Abraham Oshadami, executive commissioner for technical services, said communities without electricity struggle to sustain telecommunications infrastructure, while those without connectivity are unable to fully maximise the benefits of electrification.
“Reliable electricity and digital connectivity are not two separate development goals. They both share mutually complementary objectives that produce an inclusive and productive economy,” he said.
“A community without power struggles to sustain connectivity infrastructure, and a community without connectivity struggles to fully benefit from the power it receives.”
Maida said the partnership would integrate energy and telecommunications planning by leveraging shared infrastructure and renewable energy to accelerate broadband deployment.
He said both agencies would exchange geospatial data on existing and planned projects to identify communities where electrification and connectivity interventions overlap.
“Many of the communities still waiting for broadband access are the same communities still waiting for stable power, and solving both problems together is more efficient, more sustainable, and more affordable than solving them apart,” the EVC said.
According to the NCC boss, the collaboration will also allow telecom infrastructure such as base stations and fibre repeaters to draw stable electricity from REA’s off-grid projects while enabling the co-location of telecom assets on energy infrastructure where feasible.
He added that the partnership reflects the commission’s evolving regulatory approach.
“The Commission can no longer achieve its mandate by working within the boundaries of telecommunications alone. Meaningful connectivity, particularly for underserved and rural communities, depends on coordinated action across energy, infrastructure, finance and policy,” he said.
In his remarks, Umar Abdullahi, executive director of technical services at the REA, said the high cost of diesel has become one of the biggest barriers to expanding telecommunications services across Nigeria.
“Nigeria’s digital economy rests on a physical foundation, and that foundation is power,” he said.
“The cost of that diesel is not merely an operating expense on an operator’s balance sheet. It is the reason coverage stops where it stops and the reason expansion into the last forty per cent of our landmass has been so difficult to justify commercially.”
Abdullahi said renewable mini-grids provide a commercially viable alternative because telecommunications towers offer steady electricity demand.
“A telecommunications tower is a near-perfect anchor load, steady, twenty-four hours a day, creditworthy and contractually reliable. A mini-grid is a cheaper, cleaner and more predictable source of power than a diesel generator refuelled by road. Bringing them together improves the economics on both sides of the meter,” he said.
The director said the technical teams from both agencies had already mapped telecom base stations against REA’s mini-grid database and identified priority locations where renewable energy projects can be integrated with telecom infrastructure.
