- A Renewable Energy Expert, Mr Yusuf Suleiman, has called on the Federal Government to reduce taxes and import duties on solar products to promote alternative power supply.
- Suleiman, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Blue Camel Energy, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.
- He said that government policy on import duty on solar component needed to be revisited.
- “You cannot be lacking something and put high taxes on it.
- “It is not like we have indigenous companies in Nigeria that are producing solar products, but government is now introducing high taxes to discourage importation of the products.
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- “We are not there yet, there is a need for government to look into these taxes and import duties seriously if we are to solve our power problem,” he said.
- Suleiman also expressed concern on the amount of inflow of sub-standard solar equipment coming into the country, noting that this was responsible for the failure of so many projects.
- “We do have a Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), I think they have to do more and be better equipped to deal with this influx,” he said.
- He said that power was critical to all sectors of the economy, so government should look into the area of renewable energy to ensure that supply got to all Nigerians.
- According to him, agriculture, industries and a lot more depend on stable power supply to thrive.
- “ I think any journey embarked on for more than 40 to 50 years and you are not making headway or getting to your destination, it is better to stop.
- “More over, there are places where the solar radiation, is far less than in Nigeria, and they have a high solar generating power system.
- “ I wonder why we are still establishing grid networks when the country is best in solar radiation and I think we should look seriously into that to improve power supply.
- “If we do not address the problem of power quickly, the challenges bedeviling the sector will still remain and the growth will be retarded,’’ Suleiman said. (NAN)
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