Group Managing Director, Sahara Power Group, Kola Adesina, has said Nigeria’s power sector remains at the heart of the nation’s economic and industrial growth with prospects of renewed reform-inspired investment, technological innovation and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
Adesina, who was speaking on the “State of the Power sector and Opportunities Ahead”, emphasized that from a legacy debt resolution to tech-driven expansion, Nigeria, including the construction of a data centre, would ultimately overcome its challenges to become the transformational power hub in Africa.
Sahara Power Group does not currently operate an existing data centre but is planning, in collaboration with Nigeria’s Federal Government, to establish the country’s first National Data Park and AI Compute Infrastructure at its Egbin Power Plant site in Lagos.
“We are witnessing unprecedented collaboration involving the Federal Government, Power Ministry, Regulatory Agencies, Power Entities, CBN, Banks and multilateral financial and development agencies, and other stakeholders in the power sector. We believe that this trend will continue in 2026 and this will spur sector-wide growth that will translate to greater efficiency, sustainability, and more power for Nigerians,” he said.
While commending the Federal Government for addressing the liquidity challenges in the sector through the settlement of legacy debts, Adesina said this would undoubtedly drive new investments and stabilise the sector for unhindered growth.
Adesina said “decent progress” had been recorded in the aspect of metering and service delivery, adding that emerging cooperation between the regulators and operators will further propel “value chain optimisation with a positive impact on end-users, directly translating to more supply reliability.”
He said the sector would witness several “Distribution Network Reforms” to drive massive infrastructure rehabilitation projects, the deployment of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), and the implementation of robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems to enhance service delivery and reduce Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) losses, and development of model business units showcasing possibilities.
Adesina said, Sahara Power Group (SPG), remained committed to working assiduously with all stakeholders to ensure Nigeria attains the much sought-after future where reliable electricity becomes the bedrock of national development.
Sahara Power is Nigeria’s foremost power company, responsible for about 20% of total power generated in the nation.
Sahara Power subsidiaries include Egbin Power Plc, the largest thermal power plant in sub-Saharan Africa; First Independent Power Limited, a leading generating company in the Niger Delta, and Ikeja Electric, the largest privately run distribution, company in sub-Saharan Africa.
Adesina said Sahara Power is on course with plans aimed at increasing dispatched generation capacity to between 6,500MW and 7,000MW and is pioneering the launch of a Data Centre to foster expansion and innovative operations.
He said the Data Centre will leverage real-time data analytics, predictive maintenance, and cybersecurity, working alongside the Federal Government and system operators to enhance overall sector efficiency and transparency.
