Emmanuel Irono is the Chief Executive Officer of Motir Services, a US based company and major partner in the investment consortium. In a brief ceremony to mark the signing of the MoU in Abuja, Irono said the consortium has a portfolio of over $5 billion. The funds, which can be accessed over a period of five years, will go into financing its integrated renewable energy projects.

“The proposed solar technology to be installed is guaranteed U.S standard,” he said. He stated that the consortium has the capacity to increase the scope of project up to 10,000MW in the next five years.

Irono said with the local content component of 80 percent, the solar power project will create much needed jobs for Nigerians. “The concern for providing employment to the teeming populace will be a plus to the company’s quest for provision of training for the Nigerian workforce in the power sector in general and renewable energy in particular.”

The Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, who signed on behalf of the government, expressed his excitement that a Nigerian is making such giant strides in harnessing the vast potentials of energy in solar.

There have been growing investors’ interest in harnessing renewable energy to boost Nigeria’s power supply. In September a group of four American companies indicated interest in making investments in the power sector to the tune of $212 million. Their investment is expected to contribute 100 MW from Renewable Energy sources into the national grid by late 2015.

Nebo attributed the growing interest in Renewable power to Africa’s solar output, which he states is over 3 times the capacity of all other renewable energy sources combined.