EU, FG partner to close power sector skills gap

File photo: European Union

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The Federal Government has warned that Nigeria’s power sector reforms risk stalling unless urgent steps are taken to close the widening skills gap across the electricity value chain, even as the European Union announced fresh support for renewable energy deployment and workforce development in the country.

The union also stated that it has invested more than €200m in grants since 2008 to support Nigeria’s power sector, including policy reforms, capacity building, and market development.

It added that under its current 2021–2027 programme, the target is to support Nigeria in adding 4,00 megawatts of renewable energy capacity, a move expected to supply cleaner electricity to about five million Nigerians by 2027.

This was the highlight of a one-day stakeholder engagement organised by the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday, themed “Building a Skilled and Sustainable Workforce for NESI Transformation.”

The session, organised in partnership with Colenco, brought together regulators, utilities, development partners, and technical experts to address manpower shortages that are slowing down the implementation of the Electricity Act 2023, renewable integration, metering expansion, and the ongoing digitalisation of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.

In his opening remarks, the Director-General of NAPTIN, Ahmed Nagode, stated that the success of recent reforms heavily depended on the availability of competent and agile technical personnel.

He noted that the transformative provisions of the Electricity Act 2023, increased integration of renewable energy, accelerating grid expansion and rising digitalisation were reshaping the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, offering immense opportunities for growth, reliability, and accessibility.

However, he cautioned that these opportunities also expose the sector’s biggest vulnerability, an acute shortage of competent, adaptable, and sustainably skilled professionals.

“The success of every technical upgrade, market restructuring and modernisation effort hinges on one irreducible factor: a capable workforce. Without this, infrastructure remains underutilised, investments underperform, and our aspiration for stable, affordable power will remain elusive,” he said.

According to him, despite massive investments in infrastructure and policy reforms, the sector continues to grapple with skills gaps, poor alignment between training output and industry needs, and weak collaboration frameworks.

“At least the country has gone a long way in seeing that we experience a stable, reliable, and affordable power sector. However, all these policies could not be achieved without skilled manpower in the sector.

“Infrastructure remains underutilised, investments underperform, and our national aspiration for stable and affordable power will remain elusive without a sustainable, skilled workforce,” he warned.

The DG explained that despite NAPTIN’s ongoing work, challenges such as skills gaps in emerging technologies, weak alignment between training and industry needs, and fragmented collaboration frameworks persist.

He said the engagement was convened to tackle these barriers by strengthening the alignment of NAPTIN’s curriculum with sector demands, creating a frank platform for industry-wide dialogue, and showcasing the institute’s renewed focus on priority areas, including renewable energy, digital grid management, advanced metering, safety standards, and evolving energy markets.

The Programme Manager, Energy and Circular Economy at the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Godfrey Ogbemudia, disclosed that the bloc had invested more than €200m in grants since 2008 to support Nigeria’s power sector, including policy reforms, capacity building, and market development.

He added that the EU’s latest renewable energy package, valued at €100m, would accelerate access to clean energy through innovative financing, energy infrastructure, and technical assistance, with a strong focus on solar, wind, and small hydropower.

“The EU has been a trusted partner of Nigeria in the power sector since 2008, investing more than €200m in grants. These projects have focused on policy regulation, building the capacity of market participants, and facilitating access to finance for both public and private sector stakeholders.

“Our latest renewable energy package for the power sector is approximately €100m, and it has been designed to support access to clean energy through innovative financing, technical assistance, and new energy infrastructure.

“For us, we do not reform oil and gas, but basically renewable energy, technology, and energy efficiency are what we reform. We have done a lot, we have seen the solar market becoming what it is today, we are the first innovative private sector-led mini-grid in the country.”

Representing the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Power, the Director of Distribution, Baba Umar Mustapha, said the ministry remained concerned about the severe capacity deficit across utilities, especially at the distribution end.

He cited the poor training culture that preceded the 2013 privatisation exercise, noting that many DisCos inherited an ageing and untrained workforce, leaving them unable to maintain modern infrastructure or operate digital systems.

According to him, the ministry is pushing for the training of 1,500 engineers and technicians annually, but inadequate funding and low private sector participation are slowing down the target.

Nigeria’s power sector is undergoing one of its most aggressive transformations in a decade, following the Electricity Act 2023, which decentralised the power market and allowed states to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity.

In parallel, the sector is witnessing rapid shifts, including massive growth in off-grid solar solutions, accelerating metering rollout, increased renewable energy penetration, new state electricity markets and regulators, digital migration in grid management, and the rising need for technical safety and modern engineering practices.

However, stakeholders at the event agreed that these reforms cannot succeed without a trained workforce to design, operate, and maintain new infrastructure.

A business, investment, infrastructure and property correspondent currently with The PUNCH, Aina is a media professional with over three years experience

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