Rural Connectivity Set For Boost As NCC, REA Sign Mini-Grid Pact

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand telecommunications services in rural communities by using mini-grids to power telecom base stations.

The agreement was signed during the National Stakeholders’ Forum on Renewable Energy for Sustainable Telecommunications Infrastructure held in Abuja where government agencies, telecom operators, mini-grid developers, independent power producers and development partners gathered to further strengthen collaboration between the energy and telecommunications sectors.

After the event, the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, NCC, Engr. Sunday Oshadami said electricity and telecommunications were two critical services that must work together to drive the country’s digital economy.

While telecommunications infrastructure relies on electricity to power base stations and charge mobile devices, Oshadami said electricity services also rely on telecommunications for operations such as vending and recharging prepaid electricity meters.

He explained that the agreement would allow the NCC and REA to maximise existing infrastructure by identifying telecom base stations close to existing or planned mini-grids and connecting them to reliable power sources.

The initiative will greatly improve connectivity in underserved and off-grid communities where unreliable electricity has been a major challenge to quality telecommunications services, he said.

“It is very beneficial. We know the importance of electricity, we know the importance of our mobile phone communication. “What we are doing today is a joint effort to give the Nigerians the best of both services.

“So, the two of them are so vital and critical to the development of our country and to the digital economy, which is today the backbone of every economy.

Where you have mini-grids, we will be able to identify base stations that are close to them so that they can take electricity supply from those mini-grids,” he said. This means that rural communities where electricity is a challenge will enjoy seamless connectivity,” said Oshadami.

He said the arrangement would guarantee that telecom base stations continue to operate during times when there is no supply from the national grid and thus improve network availability and increase access to digital services by rural residents.

Oshadami said implementation would start immediately, as both agencies have already identified communities where mini-grids and telecom base stations are located very close to each other on when the Nigerians should expect the impact of the partnership.

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He said that the MoU clearly spells out the obligations of both organisations, so they can immediately start implementation.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, the Executive Director, Technical Services, REA, Engr. Umar Abdullahi said the partnership marked a departure from years of isolated planning between the energy and telecommunications sectors, stressing that both industries must work together to bridge Nigeria’s infrastructure gap.

Umar said the digital economy in Nigeria is reliant on reliable electricity, noting that every base station, fibre node and data centre needs power to function. He noted that poor grid coverage has compelled telecom operators to depend heavily on diesel generators, making network expansion into rural communities commercially challenging.

He said the REA’s investment in renewable energy mini-grids under the Nigeria Electrification Project and the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) Project provided an opportunity to tackle the challenge while improving the commercial viability of mini-grids.

He said technical teams from both agencies had already mapped telecom base stations against existing and planned mini-grid sites, identifying priority locations where renewable-powered telecom infrastructure could be deployed right away.

Umar says the collaboration is not meant to tamper with the commercial decisions of telecom operators or energy developers but to foster an enabling environment for partnerships by providing site data and reducing transaction costs.

The institutional framework for this collaboration is provided by the Memorandum of Understanding. But an MoU between two agencies does not, in itself, energise a single tower. “It’s the commercial agreement between developers and operators that builds projects, supported by a regulatory environment that both can rely on,” he said.

He urged stakeholders to identify practical barriers including tariff structures, contract terms, reliability guarantees and regulatory issues that could slow implementation, adding that the partnership aligns with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Mission 300 to expand access to electricity and digital connectivity.

The partnership is expected to improve digital inclusion, access to telecommunications services in rural communities and support the Federal Government’s efforts to expand broadband penetration through reliable and sustainable energy infrastructure.