The Federal Government, through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), has entered into a strategic partnership with global off-grid solar company, Sun King, to strengthen local manufacturing, expand renewable energy access, and save Nigeria up to $150 million in solar imports over the next five years.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed during the Nigeria Renewable Energy Innovation Forum held in Abuja, in the presence of Vice President Kashim Shettima and Sun King’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Walsh. The partnership marks another major step in Nigeria’s commitment to industrialising its clean energy sector through strong collaboration between the public and private sectors.
“With the right enabling support from REA and wider government, Sun King estimates that its planned local manufacturing facilities could substitute imports worth $150 million over the next five years,” a statement from the company read. “In parallel, the partnership will promote structured dialogue between the public and private sectors on the conditions necessary to build a thriving local manufacturing ecosystem.”
Vice President Shettima said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is focused on attracting more private investment into renewable energy by improving incentives and removing regulatory bottlenecks.
“To unlock the full potential of Nigeria’s energy transition, we need the private sector, our industrialists, innovators, and financiers, to take bold steps forward,” he stated. “We are enhancing incentives for local manufacturing, streamlining regulatory frameworks, and deepening collaboration with state governments and development partners to de-risk private capital and accelerate the growth of a self-sustaining renewable energy market.”
The partnership will focus on three main areas: local manufacturing and value addition, data-driven collaboration, and joint advocacy for off-grid solar as a key part of Nigeria’s energy transition.
Under the local production component, Sun King and REA will jointly work on domestic assembly of solar panels, home systems, and energy-efficient appliances such as freezers and televisions. This initiative supports the Federal Government’s Nigeria First policy aimed at creating jobs, supporting industrial growth, and reducing dependence on imported energy products.
According to Sun King, with the right incentives and supportive regulations, local production could replace imports worth $150 million within five years while creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs in manufacturing, logistics, and after-sales service.
REA Managing Director, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, said the partnership links energy access, industrial growth, and supportive policy into a unified drive for Nigeria’s clean-energy future.
“Sun King was the largest partner on REA’s Nigeria Electrification Programme,” Aliyu said. “This next chapter goes further by integrating industrialisation and policy alignment into our shared renewable energy vision.”
The second component of the partnership will strengthen data sharing and technical cooperation between both organisations. Through shared market intelligence, consumer data, and performance metrics, REA and Sun King aim to improve the design and performance of key national programmes, including the Nigeria Electrification Project and the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up initiative.
These data-driven insights are expected to guide national planning under Mission 300, a global initiative seeking to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030. Nigeria is expected to play a leading role in achieving this goal, given its large population and rising energy demand.
The third focus area of the partnership involves public awareness and policy advocacy to position standalone solar systems as a major component of Nigeria’s energy mix. REA and Sun King will work together to promote favourable financing policies, attract private capital, and showcase how solar power is improving lives in rural and peri-urban communities across the country.
Sun King currently sells over 330,000 solar kits every month across Africa. In Nigeria, the company’s operations have expanded rapidly, growing from 3,000 units sold per month in 2020 to about 75,000 monthly units in 2025. With this new agreement, the company plans to triple its sales in Nigeria over the coming years as demand for reliable and affordable electricity continues to rise.
Sun King’s co-founder and CEO, Patrick Walsh, described the agreement as a strong example of cooperation between the private sector and government.
“This partnership unites two powerful goals, Mission 300 and Nigeria’s industrialisation drive,” Walsh said. “It’s about making clean energy affordable, unlocking manufacturing opportunities, and using shared data to strengthen Nigeria’s renewable energy and electronics industries.”
Sun King’s growing presence in Nigeria has already created more than 12,000 jobs in sectors such as engineering, sales, data analytics, and customer service. The company expects that the new agreement with REA will expand these opportunities through local assembly, component production, and supply chain development.
Experts believe that this agreement could serve as a model for other African countries aiming to combine renewable energy growth with industrial policy. It reflects a strong alignment between President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and global sustainability goals, with a focus on inclusive economic growth and energy access.
Nigeria currently has an estimated 85 million people living without access to electricity, according to the World Bank. Energy experts say that scaling up off-grid solar and hybrid energy systems, alongside local production initiatives, could significantly improve energy access and reduce the country’s reliance on foreign imports for solar equipment.