July 17, 2026 | Umuahia
The Abia State Government has signed a Public-Private Partnership agreement to attract a $145 million solar manufacturing investment into the state.
Governor Alex Otti announced the deal on Thursday in Umuahia, saying the project will be sited in the Aba Special Economic Zone. He described it as part of the administration’s push to position Abia as a hub for clean energy and industrial growth in Nigeria.
Under the PPP arrangement, the state government will provide land, tax incentives, and regulatory support, while the private investors will fund, build and operate the solar manufacturing facility. The plant is expected to produce solar panels, inverters, batteries and other components for both domestic use and export.
Otti said the investment will create over 2,000 direct jobs and more than 5,000 indirect jobs during construction and operations. He added that it will also reduce Abia’s reliance on the national grid and support the state’s energy reform agenda, especially for SMEs in Aba and other industrial clusters.
“This is not just about electricity. It is about jobs, about industry, and about making Abia the energy capital of the Southeast,” the governor said. “With reliable power, our factories can run 24 hours and our products can compete globally.”
The investors, a consortium of local and foreign renewable energy firms, said the project will have an initial production capacity of 500 megawatts per year, with plans to scale to 1 gigawatt. They cited Abia’s business-friendly policies, access to ports, and growing SME base as key reasons for choosing the state.
The Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Kingsley Opara, said the state is also working on mini-grid and embedded power projects to complement the manufacturing plant and ensure steady supply to communities.
Stakeholders in Aba’s manufacturing sector welcomed the deal, saying stable and cheaper power will lower production costs for shoe, garment and steel businesses in the city.
Work on the facility is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026, with phase one targeted for completion in 2028.
