REA, SAPZ target 103,000 beneficiaries in new agro-industrial zone energy pact
July 27, 2026 10:55 pm
File photo: Vice President Kashim Shettima
The Rural Electrification Agency and the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones programme on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to provide affordable energy across all SAPZ sites in the country.
This was as Vice President Kashim Shettima described the agreement as a partnership with the potential to transform agricultural productivity and improve the wellbeing of rural communities nationwide.
The agreement, signed at a ceremony at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, covers joint assessment, technical assistance and energy deployment across SAPZ sites under the REA’s Desert To Power programme.
It also targets 25,000 households, 13 health facilities and over 103,000 direct beneficiaries in each designated area, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed in a statement signed Monday.
The statement is titled ‘REA, SAPZ Sign MoU to Provide Affordable Energy in Agro-Industrial Processing Zones.’
Shettima, represented at the ceremony by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, said the Federal Government welcomed the partnership and would encourage more collaborations that unlock the country’s potential, particularly in agriculture.
He commended the REA management for its commitment and resourcefulness, saying the SAPZ programme, when fully operationalised, would deliver on its promise to farming communities.
The Minister of Agriculture, Senator Abubakar Kyari, described the collaboration between the African Development Bank, the Federal Ministry of Power and the REA as the beginning of greater achievements in the sector.
“Beyond bridging the infrastructure gap in the agricultural sector, the programme is designed to improve the livelihoods of farmers and people in rural communities in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda,” Kyari said.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Mahmuda Mamman, pledged the ministry’s full commitment to the objectives of the REA-SAPZ collaboration and its dedication to actualising government’s broader aspirations in the power sector.
The Managing Director of REA, Abba Aliyu, presented the agency’s project portfolio to the gathering, disclosing that the REA had completed 424 mini-grid electrification projects and had 693 others ongoing across the country.
Aliyu described the SAPZ partnership as an extension of REA’s proven track record of delivering game-changing electrification projects across multiple sectors.
The National Programme Coordinator of the SAPZ, Dr Kabir Yusuf, said energy supply was one of the most critical challenges confronting successful implementation of the programme.
Yusuf expressed optimism that the deployment of mini-grids through the REA-led initiative would improve the economies of the production centres while also providing more sustainable power supply to adjoining communities at the SAPZ sites.
The highpoint of the occasion was the formal signing of the MoU for the electrification of SAPZ sites under the Nigeria Desert to Power initiative by representatives of the two implementing agencies.
The SAPZ programme, a flagship agricultural initiative of the Tinubu administration, is backed by the African Development Bank to cluster agro-processing activities in designated zones across Nigeria’s geopolitical regions.
The programme aims to reduce post-harvest losses, add value to raw agricultural commodities before export, and create rural employment by bringing processing infrastructure closer to farming communities.
With three years of experience, Stephen, The PUNCH correspondent, has been covering Nigeria’s presidency, politics, security, immigration and trafficking in persons
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