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By Emmanuel Adeleke
The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has urged investors to collaborate with the agency for the local production and domestication of Lithium batteries among other renewable energy solutions.
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NASENI, Dr. Bashir Gwandu, said the agency was ready to partner with international companies that are willing to set up their industries in Nigeria and start local production of renewable energy solutions, electric vehicles parts and other capital goods that could create jobs and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign goods that exert pressure on foreign exchange for the country.
Gwandu, who stated this while receiving a business delegation from LEMI Technology Shenzhen, China, at NASENI headquarters in Abuja, said the agency is already doing a lot in the area of solar panel production.
He stressed that NASENI will soon attract a solar cell manufacturer in order to improve synergy with the existing work on solar panel assembly.
The EVC said the agency has held meetings with other companies from around the world, with a view to development a partnership on local production of Lithium-based end-products in Nigeria, against the normal practice of foreign companies exporting the raw materials outside the country for processing.
Gwandu also said NASENI will be working with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) to encourage development, production of electric vehicles and conversion of existing vehicles to electric-vehicles as against producing from scratch.
“So, we are inviting friends of Nigeria to come here and establish here. We are encouraging those who can come and produce locally. We will give them support and ensure that the investment environment is encouraging,” he said.
Gwandu suggested that NASENI and LEMI Technology should work out the areas of possible collaborations in the production of Lithium battery and ensure that all the safety and environment regulations are followed.
The EVC, who emphasised the agency’s priority to be the production of Lithium battery and inverters, expressed his delight at working out a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with LEMI Technology, with a view to ensuring safest means of producing the Lithium-based batteries, taking into cognizance Nigeria’s environmental peculiarities.
Speaking, the founder of LEMI Technology, Joyce Chen, said the company is ready to partner with NASENI and invest in the country.
She stressed that LEMI Technology is looking forward to a rewarding relationship with the agency and the Nigerian government.
Giving details of the visit, the Chief Executive Officer of LEMI Technology, Xie Feng, expressed his company’s willingness to partner with NASENI through MoU on renewable energy, with particular reference to products like solar and television panels, inverters and battery production.
He said Nigeria and China have a brotherhood that spans many years, adding that Nigeria with its teeming population, is critical for investment opportunities.
Feng added that LEMI Technology has been operating in the Nigerian market since 2018, had provided job opportunities to Nigerians and have sold renewable energy products to over 200,000 Nigerian households.
The LEMI Technology delegation include Chief Investment Officer, Rocky Hu; Chief Financial Officer, Biju Yao; Oversea Business Director, Monica Liang and Engineer Lucia Peng.
NASENI is the Nigerian only purpose-built agency with specific mandate in the area of capital goods research, production and reverse engineering in the following areas: Engineering Materials, Industrial and Analytical Chemical Materials, Scientific Equipment and components, Engineering Equipment, Engineering Designs and Standardisation and Power Equipment.