By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Federal Ministry of Power (FMP) with financial support of the European Union (EU) and the German Government on Tuesday officially launched the Nigeria Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Platform.
The virtual launch was conducted in the framework of the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), a technical assistance programme, co-funded by the EU and the German Government and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in collaboration with the ministry.
The new online platform, otherwise known as Central Data Management System (CDMS), aims to offer the most
accurate data and latest tools that empower data-driven and least cost electrification planning in Nigeria.
The data and tools will be available under the domain nigeriase4all.gov.ng. The data is being constantly gathered
and updated so the platform aims to be the go-to location for new datasets about the Nigerian electricity sector.
In a keynote speech, the Minister of Power Engr. Sale Mamman, who is committed to digitalise the Nigerian power sector, stressed the importance of the CDMS project for the energy sector, noting that “Nigeria SE4ALL would facilitate transparency and coordination in the electricity sector by providing a platform for all stakeholders
to share their knowledge and experience.”
He further said, “This platform will support Nigeria in achieving its
energy access goals in a transparent and sustainable manner.”
The Head of Section Economic Cooperation and Energy European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Katrine Thomsen, highlighted the benefits of the platform.
According to him, “We are very happy to have supported the Nigerian government in solving one of the major power sector challenges which is Data. This Central Data Management System will provide the government, investors and project developers with accurate data for market intelligence and planning needed to achieve Nigeria’s SDG7 goal.”
The German Ambassador to Nigeria, Birgitt Ory, defined the Nigeria SE4ALL as a milestone for promoting sustainable growth in Nigeria.
In her goodwill message, she said that “The German Government proudly supports
the launch of the platform, which underlines the importance of sustainable energy concepts. Building on a solid database of these concepts can help to develop economic and ecological opportunities, and thus become an engine of sustainable growth.”
The CDMS includes the SE4ALL Website (nigeriase4all.gov.ng) with information about the SE4ALL initiative, recent electrification developments in Nigeria and live indicators of data gathered to date.
Further, the CDMS includes an interactive Webmap, which helps to find potential mini-grid locations and off-grid settlements, as well as a Data Manager portal to download and edit layers from the Webmap. Additionally, the platform has an integrated Mini-grid Monitor portal, that lists all existing Nigerian mini-grids and provides access to monitoring
data to better understand the market.
“In discussion with our partners, it became clear that in order to bring electricity forward in Nigeria and to cooperate with the private sector, one obstacle and challenge, is the availability of data. With the support of NESP in close cooperation with FMP and agencies across the sector, we have now achieved to jointly map out the electricity situation in 22 states in Nigeria,” said Ina Hommers, Country Director of GIZ Nigeria & ECOWAS.
Over 3,000 settlements and 2.6 million buildings have been remotely mapped, with over 50,000 km electricity grid tracked in the 22 affected states. More data will be added soon and made available to the public on the CDMS.
