Nigeria draws a roadmap for bus electrification

October 24, 2024

From the newsletter

A  report released yesterday by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), "Transitioning to Sustainable Mass Transportation Systems," points out that the transport sector contributes approximately 15% of Nigeria's total greenhouse gas emissions.  The report suggests that deploying electric buses (e-buses) could potentially reduce these emissions by 75%.

  • Road transport accounts for 96% of all transport methods in Nigeria and consumes 77% of the country's petrol, making it a key sector to prioritise for decarbonisation. 

  • While ICE buses currently account for only 5% of total transport emissions, replacing them with e-buses offers a significant opportunity for reducing emissions. One e-bus can potentially reduce emissions equivalent to that of 20–30 cars.AGE

More details

  • The report is aligned with the Nigerian energy transition plan (ETP) which articulates the country's strategy towards carbon neutrality by 2060.

  • Nigeria's grid is currently unreliable and insufficient to handle the mass rollout of electric vehicles (EVs) in the market. Transitioning to EVs will demand clean, reliable, and affordable electricity, and Nigeria plans to address this through the National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy (NREEEP). 

  • On electric vehicles, the government plans through the VAT Modification Order 2024 to introduce exemptions on electric vehicles and energy infrastructure. However, these exemptions would also apply to other products that compete with EVs, such as CNG and diesel. 

  • Given the Nigerian government's interest in using CNG as a transition fuel for buses, this could slow down e-bus adoption if it ends up becoming cheaper than e-buses.

Our take

  • This report offers a comprehensive analysis of how Nigeria can deploy mass transit solutions, and how it is an opportunity to mitigate emissions and reduce transport costs for its population.

  • Research is one thing, and implementation is another, especially in Africa, where politics rather than country interests often influence policies. This is a first step for Nigeria, and we await implementation. But this won't be as soon as people might expect.

  • Being Africa's most populous country, solving the problem in Nigeria would mean solving the problem for the rest of Africa.