Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
Engineers have warned that Nigeria’s ageing electrical energy infrastructure, weak funding and rising vitality calls for from digital applied sciences threaten the nation’s digital economic system, industrial development and competitiveness except pressing reforms are carried out.
The warning was issued on the twenty second International Conference and Exhibition on Power and Telecommunications (ICEPT 2026), organised by the Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (NIEEE) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Delivering the keynote deal with on behalf of the Director-General of the Energy Commission of Nigeria, Dr Abdullahi Mustapha, the Acting Director for National Energy Efficiency, Dr Manaseh Shitta, mentioned Nigeria should urgently modernise its electrical energy infrastructure to deal with the calls for of an more and more digital economic system.
He warned that synthetic intelligence (AI), cloud computing and information centres have been driving international electrical energy consumption, putting further stress on energy methods already struggling to fulfill present demand.
The improvement, he mentioned, introduced a serious problem for Nigeria because the nation pursued digital transformation, industrialisation and the transition to cleaner vitality sources.
Shitta recognized rising electrical energy demand from digitalisation, cybersecurity threats and insufficient funding in ageing energy infrastructure as three crucial obstacles to integrating vitality methods with rising applied sciences.
He defined that trendy vitality infrastructure more and more trusted digital applied sciences to handle renewable vitality sources, electrical car charging stations, battery storage methods and decentralised electrical energy era.
Without applicable digital methods, he mentioned, managing these interconnected vitality networks effectively would grow to be more and more troublesome.
However, he cautioned that higher reliance on digital applied sciences additionally uncovered crucial vitality infrastructure to cyberattacks, making cybersecurity a vital part of Nigeria’s energy sector modernisation.
He known as for stronger collaboration amongst engineers, vitality corporations, buyers and policymakers to draw funding, develop progressive applied sciences and set up regulatory frameworks that might help digital innovation whereas defending crucial infrastructure.
“The future of energy is not just green. It is smart, connected and digital,” he mentioned.
Also talking, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Enoh, represented by the Zonal Coordinator of the ministry’s Industrial Inspectorate Department, Mr Itoro Johnson, mentioned dependable electrical energy and digital expertise have been indispensable to Nigeria’s industrialisation drive.
He mentioned the Nigeria Industrial Policy 2025 offered a framework for aligning vitality, infrastructure, commerce and expertise to strengthen home manufacturing and enhance the competitiveness of Nigerian companies.
Enoh disclosed that the coverage had attracted greater than $380 million in strategic financing commitments for manufacturing and value-chain improvement.
He added that the Federal Government was prioritising devoted vitality options for industrial clusters to deal with electrical energy challenges confronting producers.
According to him, plans included energy and fuel infrastructure for industrial parks similar to Idu, alongside expanded financing alternatives for companies via partnerships with the Bank of Industry.
The minister urged engineers to develop indigenous applied sciences and speed up the adoption of digital options throughout industrial sectors, stressing that authorities efforts to attain financial development required efficient collaboration with {industry} professionals.
Earlier, NIEEE President, Felix Adegboye, mentioned the convention was designed to generate sensible options to Nigeria’s electrical energy and technological challenges.
The convention, themed “Energy Transition in a Digital Era: The Nexus, Challenges and Opportunities,” is holding from October 12 to 16, bringing collectively stakeholders from authorities, academia, {industry} and the funding group.
Adegboye mentioned discussions would cowl clear vitality, telecommunications, automation, synthetic intelligence and different rising applied sciences, with emphasis on addressing infrastructure gaps and figuring out funding alternatives.
He additionally introduced the inaugural NIEEE Fellows’ Assembly, which might study synthetic intelligence’s implications for engineering apply, skilled accountability, cybersecurity and the coaching of future engineers.
Adegboye urged contributors to translate deliberations into deployable applied sciences, stronger industry-academia partnerships and sustainable engineering options.
He pressured that collaboration amongst professionals, authorities and buyers can be important to constructing a resilient vitality system able to supporting Nigeria’s digital ambitions and long-term industrial improvement.
