Experts urges FG to reduces taxes on solar products

By Constance Imasuen

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.

“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