1. COMMUNIQUE OF THE FIRST NIGERIA ALTERNATIVE ENERGY EXPO 2011
held @ Shehu Musa Yaradua Centre, Abuja, Nigeria from October 17th–19th
The premier Nigeria Alternative Energy Expo (NAEE 2011) saw participation from
16 countries representing all 6 continents and 147 registered companies.
It began with a symposium on day one - October 17th where participants where
intimated on the intricacies of the Nigerian and indeed the African alternative energy
climate with particular emphasis on opportunities, challenges and developments in
Nigeria. Several notable speakers and experts from various sectors of the alternative
energy divide provided insights to set the tone for the exhibitions and business
match-making sessions which took place subsequently. Topics and papers covered
during the symposium can be downloaded from our site.
Worthy of note also was the intense participation of the World Bank/IFC programme
– the Lighting Africa Project, which took the lead alongside partner companies in
exhibiting several rigorously tested products that represent the effort to ensure that
quality standards are entrenched, and that the end-user who is often vulnerable, only
gets durable and dependable products. The Lighting Africa Project held an
awareness programme on day two – October 18 th where they introduced their
programme designed to set standards for the fledgling industry, companies and their
products which have successfully passed the standards tests, modalities for
participation by interested manufacturers, and benefits of successfully passing these
standards tests including, subsidies funded by the World Bank/IFC to ensure
affordability at the bottom of the pyramid. More on this can be found on our website
www.nigeriaalternativeenergyexpo2011.com .
Exhibiting companies from Switzerland, Germany, Uganda, China, India, Japan and
of course Nigeria to mention just a few also delighted participants with a retinue of
innovative products tailored to meet the subsistence energy demands of Nigerian
homes including those off-grid (i.e. not on the national electricity grid). It was
estimated that a whopping 30 – 50% of Nigerians are not connected to the national
grid.
Regulators were also not left out, with the National Electricity Regulatory
Commission (NERC), the Energy Commission and the Ministry of Power all

2. participants at the Expo. A goodwill message was also received from the Power
Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) demonstrating the commitment of all
stakeholders to Nigeria’s energy sufficiency. All these culminated in the award and
presentation of certificates to exhibitors and participants at the Expo on day three –
October 19th. For a detailed report on the Expo and a comprehensive brochure on
the companies that attended, please see our website address provided herein.
At the symposium, this Expo established and resolved that:
- In spite of concerted action taken by the various governments and their
agencies, a lot more needs to be done and as such, government actions must
be complimented by an aggressive industry-led revolution that drives the
proliferation of energy solutions right across the nation and continent.
- A match must be made between manufacturers, their distributors on one
hand, and the financial services industry and the end-users on the other to
ensure that much needed products get to those who really need them and are
affordable. A microfinance perspective was strongly recommended to catalyze
this revolution and ensure maximum spread.
- The World Bank/IFC Lighting Africa Project presents a viable standardization
process that should be leveraged to ensure quality is delivered to the end-
user in order to prevent apathy to much needed solutions resulting from past
experiences with non-durable and non-dependable products. It is a shared
objective that we must rid homes of toxic kerosene-based products which are
doing immeasurable damage to the users. It was also agreed that,
- The time for inspired action is NOW including a commitment by stakeholders
to invest in community enlightenment programmes and other creative
corporate social responsibility initiatives to achieve energy sufficiency, as the
impact on education, health and the livelihood of beneficiary communities
cannot be overemphasized.
Find out more at www.nigeriaalternativeenergyexpo2011.com