The Nassarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule yesterday granted a special tax holiday for Renewable Energy Service Companies (RESCOs) developing mini-grids.
He anchored the tax waiver on the benefits accruable to the communities from the investment.
“There is a special tax holiday for renewable energy because it is a win-win situation for you and our communities that are benefiting.”
Sule spoke in Abuja during the Roundtable Event on “Catalyzing Renewable Energy Growth Through Research, Development, and Innovation in Nassarawa State Electricity Market.”
The state signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to boost access to electricity.
Meanwhile, the REA Managing Director, Abba Aliyu announced that with 25 numbers of mini-grids, the state has the highest number in the country.
Responding, the governor said the reason for the robust record of mini-grids was the people’s willingness to pay for the energy.
“So one of the reasons Nassarawa has the highest number of mini-grid is because the people are willing to pay for power,” he said.
He hinged the prospect in the renewable energy investment in the state on the Return on Investment (RoI) in the state.
According to him, the state has worked hard to ensure there is a guarantee on RoWI because once the RoI is shaky the investors’ confidence in the state will become shaky.
The governor also said the state has a law that set aside 5 per cent of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to de-risk investment.
He further noted that the de-risking is mostly to ensure the provision of basic infrastructure as water and road in operational bases where they are lacking to attract the investors
According to him, the state also ensured that the host communities take ownership of the factories because of the economic opportunities that come with the investment.
He said: “So that is why we have law in Nassarawa State that clearly says five per cent of our IGR is going to go into de-risking for investors that are coming into Nassarawa State.
“And then this five per cent that goes into de-risking partly in ensuring that in case there is no road to the area, we construct the road, there is no water in the area, we try to provide. There is also a challenge we are facing in case of power we try to do that.
“Every investor coming to Nassarawa State once he comes to this our one stop shop they come to that we hand hold them to the communities.
“We say community we have an investor coming into your area and it is going to bring investment for you, economic empowerment for you and we want you to live in peace with them and we want you to take ownership of that. I don’t send anybody I go there myself.”
He informed the RESCOs that the state is constructing a World Bank funded multi-door court house to resolve investment related disputes instead of waiting for the regular courts.
He shed light on why investors trooped to the state despite while neighbouring Southern Kaduna, Benue and Plateau states were in crisis.
He said the government has toiled assiduously to ensure there is peace and security in the state.
He said: “A gentleman asked me last week and said you Nassarawa State, we hear a lot of killings going on in Benue next to you.
“Then the killing jumped to Plateau next to door and then sometimes we hear Southern Kaduna. How come you people are living quiet what is actually happening?
“He said what is going on in the state and instead we are hearing you commissioning mining companies: tin mining, lithium mining and yet you have more number of ethnic groups in Nassarawa than in Benue and Plateau put together. He said how come?
“I said number one is God and he said well there is more to it than just God. And I said if you are looking for investors and you understand how to look for investors you must work very hard to ensure that you have peace because every investor wants to hear security first.
“Most investment must have what you call RoI return on investment; if the return on investment is shaky, and investors also will become shaky and will run away.”
Meanwhile, the REA boss said there are 25 completed mini-grids ready for commissioning in the state.
He said 1.4 million people in the state are on grid supply while 2,404 communities are off grid.
