Solar has become widely discussed in the development of renewable energy. It is powerful source of available energy, not only for the environment but, financially as well. Solar energy has become an efficient resource for clean energy for residential and commercial buildings, as well as industrial manufacturing applications. This advancing technological trend may see the globe reaping the many benefits of solar powered electricity in many ways. With the use of solar, it will greatly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. In this interview with an expert in renewable energy, Chukwuemeka Ezike spoke on how his company is advancing the development of renewable energy in Nigeria and globally. He also told Mediaage the impacts Neem Energy has had on the Nigerian society, how the government can leverage on the zeal of the private sector to build a sustainable renewable energy society. Have a pleasant reading. Excerpts:
Can we meet you?
My name is Chukwuemeka Ezike, the Chief Lead of Neem Energy and my background comes from Engineering, actually. I finished from Covenant University where I studied Communication Engineering from the Department of Electrical Information Engineering. After that, I did my MBA with Nexfus University, an on-line programme, just because of my work. I found it easy to do it that way. It’s a way of learning and self developing myself.
I’ve been intrigued to see people empowered through technology. I’ve worked with a lot of blockchain tech companies and I’m a start up of one blockchain tech company and other things I may not be mentioning here. I’ve been involved in growing communities and developing the space. Currently, I’m working towards investing in renewable energy, from equipments to installations, to see how we can reach and create alternative energy for people in sub-saharan Africa, starting from Nigeria.
Our dream is to see our Africa become accessible to as many as we can reach and that is my interest, to be able to impact lives, as long as I have the energy to do so.
What motivated you into your business?
Neem Energy is a way of expanding our horizon in what I said about accessing energy. My elder brother introduced this to me and I saw how efficient it was in me doing my tech jobs because, I work remotely. I thought this could help a lot of persons, looking at the situation of power energy sector in the country. Not just providing energy but how this can also make you cut cost in energy consumption, to be able to be stable in doing your work especially as a remote engineer or web developer or an engineer or founder.
So, it was an interest to me on how can we expand this because, energy is more like an economy, with energy comes more efficiency. It is important in our daily lives. So, I thought how best can we do this?
I started Neem Energy through my brother telling me more about this. I began researching and found that solar energy could be a cheap way to create accessible energy to more people in a wider scope. We began this journey last year and have started putting in kilowatts, trying to make this accessible for commercial businesses and home users. So, we are working daily to see how we can make this accessible to more people.
We are also building our own appliances with our partners which will be coming into the country. So, Neem Energy is all about creating sustainable energy through renewable energy and contributing in making the world a cleaner and sustainable environment for all.
What impacts have you made?
We are looking at creating solutions for people so they can learn about becoming technicians in solar powered energy. We are looking towards creating a free technical education. We are working with some partners and it will start very soon, may be by the end of Q2 or Q3. But, for now, we’ve created jobs, impacted homes and businesses. They’ve been able to cut their cost on power consumption, using solar as an alternative to reduce costs.
Some commercial buildings spent about eight million naira on power, monthly. With solar energy, they’ve been able to cut that by half. So, solar energy can help you reduce some costs, that’s one of the impacts we’ve made.
We’ve saved a lot of trees from being cut down, being able to use renewable energy. We’ve also cut down carbons. To calculate them, it could be in tens of thousands of KGS that we’ve been able to save the planet, implementing solar energy in some of the structures we’ve been able to.
How can the government come in and assist the private sector?
The government is already doing things. We’ve had a lot of renewable energy associations talking about solar, trying to bring a lot of incentives. I think it’s a journey and I’ve seen a lot of policy release documents that will be able to encourage more investors to come into the solar energy sector.
Even if you look at the African Development Bank (AfDB), World Bank and other big institutes, they are looking at solar energy funding because, the major thing that reduces a lot of unburden for people is what we call initial capital in installing solar equipments. So, I thought the government is creating the kind of environment that will in turn bring a lot of investors to enable more homes and businesses have solar infrastructure and transition. So, I think the government is doing its part. It’s a journey and we are looking for that relationship with the government to promote this.
Going by the present day Nigerian society where you find quite a number that are not educated, many may not know about this solar energy, let alone knowing how to purchase it. What’s the level of awareness on solar and do you think they can afford it?
There will be social development programmes that will reach the rural areas and due to the income level of these areas, they may not be able to start thinking solar equipments, especially looking at the initial capital costs. They would prefer to first take care of their basic needs. We are aware of this. This is why we’ve thought about building more affordable solar systems for these areas to use for lightning source and fan appliances.
What we are looking at is the more massive projects that the government will come in and provide for rural regions that will be like a power grade that supplies power. This could be where the likes of the World Bank would come in through solar funding around the world and it could help reach those regions. It is very capital intensive and the only way we can do it is to start from somewhere and that’s the people who can afford it. Till we continue growing, we will have more incentives, funds to finance projects for those rural regions. I’m sure we will get there. Energy is a continuous development space and I know with time, we will reach more effectiveness in rural places.
What’s your projection for Neem Energy in the next ten years?
I see us doing a lot of Public Partnership Projects with the government, where we will have a commercial grid that will supply energy to some community solar projects. Also, we see ourselves as high contributors to the carbon credit needs of the sub-saharan region. We don’t just see ourselves as installers but, as people who contribute to the renewable energy space in the nearest future, by also bringing in manufacturing in the long run.
We already have this on our roadmap where we will hit a certain milestone. We are looking at situating a local manufacturing that can actually produce these equipments and create more jobs. We want to see those people we’ve trained technically, channel these trainings to implement lots of these solar projects and maybe, become company owners in the future solar space.
Currently, we bring in projects branded by us but very soon, we see ourselves becoming outright local manufacturers of these solar equipments. Presently, they manufacture for us because, we tell them what we need, like these solar panels you are seeing here. We aim to bring the manufacturing here as our purses expand.
Delving outside business, what keeps you happy and are you married?
I’m not married and my family keeps me happy. I am kind of a family person and I also like seeing people improve in their journey. So, anything that makes me involve with people, and I see them improve, it gives me a certain kind of peace. I’m a social person that just want to have a time to laugh. I believe in my faith as a Christian and it is very important to me.
How do you unwind, being a focused business person?
I travel, spend time with my family and laugh over things. I also read a lot. I was talking to someone the other day and was asked if I studied solar energy? I said no, I only began reading it on books, papers, articles and online. Yes, I use study to unwind.
So, how come you built this like you studied it in school?
Thank God for the internet, it can connect you to a lot of knowledge. I find it like a tool to help self develop myself in any aspect. Like yesterday night, I had to download four policy documents, just to understand where the world is headed. Even COP29 in Egypt and the recent COP28, I also downloaded. The reason I did this is to understand the direction the world is taking for solar energy in the next ten years, just to give me a broader scope of what should energize my vision. Studying helps a lot to keep me in that direction.
Thank you so much for your time.
My pleasure.