The Federal Government has highlighted the need for accurate, reliable, and timely energy data to effectively guide and monitor the country’s energy transition process.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji, during the official launch of the computerized National Energy Information System n Abuja on Monday, according to Daily Trust.
The NEIS is designed to enhance the collection, management, and dissemination of energy data, providing key insights that will support decision-making and policy formulation for Nigeria’s energy sector.
The minister also emphasized that the current push for energy transition requires a more holistic approach to revolutionize the process, ensuring that project designs, policies, and strategies are driven by high-quality, reliable energy data.
“The NEIS was conceived to achieve dematerialised data collection, reduce data entry error and processing time, improve the speed of data dissemination and improve data quality accordingly. This is an occasion intended to usher in an innovative approach to the collection, collation, harmonisation, validation and dissemination of energy data.
“The ECN is cognisant of the need to improve energy data collection methods by setting up systems which respond to the country’s data needs. These include all sectors of the economy, to improve energy data quality and coverage,” Nnaji said.
Meanwhile, the Director General of ECN, Dr Mustapha Abdullahi, stated that the collated data would serve as a crucial input for the development, operation, and maintenance of NEIS.
He explained that the NEIS would be used by researchers, development partners, individuals, and organizations to plan, make informed decisions, and take effective actions in managing energy supply, usage, and costs.
“In order to further achieve this mandate, we must work with other relevant governmental and non-governmental organisations that generate, collate, analyse, disseminate and use energy data. This will usher in a computerised infrastructure that will lead, among other things, to dematerialise data collection, reduce data entry errors and processing time.
“It will also improve the speed of disseminating statistics, eliminate data loss and improve data quality and energy planning,” Abdullahi said.
In his remarks, the Commissioner of Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation, ECOWAS, Sédiko Douka, said that the computerized system features a comprehensive energy database with relevant indicators, all calculated in accordance with international standards.
He noted that ECOWAS is committed to improving and harmonizing information, communication, and accessible real-world data and indicators in the energy sector.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria would take the necessary steps to ensure the sustainability of this vital tool.
“This is the reason why we have also made available to the provider a dashboard where it will be able to visualise and analyse all the data. All these indicators will be more accessible when data providers have more means to communicate with them,” he said.
