FG partners Chinese firm to establish electric tricycle assembly in Oyo

The federal government says two memorandums of understanding (MOU) have been signed with Mutual Commitment Company Limited, a Chinese company, for the establishment of an electric tricycle assembly in Oyo state.

In a statement, Bolaji Tunji, spokesperson to Adebayo Adelabu, the minister of power, said the signing took place in Beijing on Tuesday ahead of the 2024 China-Africa Cooperation Forum.

Part of the agreement also includes the establishment of a renewable energy training centre.

The location of the training centre was not made known.

The deals were facilitated by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), an agency of the ministry of power, and the signing ceremony was attended by Adelabu and Abba Aliyu, managing director of the REA.

Speaking during the ceremony, Adelabu congratulated the REA and the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, saying it will help to achieve Nigeria’s vision for renewable energy.

Explaining the decision, Adelabu said that expanding citizens’ access to energy is the major priority of the government.

“We have relied so much on centralisation of our power sector for so long that it is not taking us anywhere,” he said.

“So, moving away from centralisation, we have decided to adopt the distributed power model to ensure that every Nigerian has access to energy.

“A lot of our population resides in rural areas, and a lot of our educational and tertiary health institutions are isolated, and they are still facing epileptic power supply.

“We have also found out that the adoption of the distributed energy model will expand the energy net for our rural dwellers, the rural businesses, our universities and tertiary health institutions; which is why the focus is on renewable energy which we believe is scalable and can exist in isolation of national grid that is currently facing lots of pressure.”

The minister also said as Nigeria continues to expand energy access, the country also desires a transition to greener sources of energy.

Also at the event, Aliyu said that his agency will ensure that the deals are speedily implemented.

“We will track this and ensure the delivery of the commitment within the tenure of the present administration,” he said.

Aliyu said the REA will also track the economic factor that the initiative will drive, the level of gross domestic product (GDP) contribution, the employment opportunities provided, and the socio-economic activities that will crystallise.