Manufacturers, processors, haulers and the broader business community have been told that their reliance on diesel generators for primary power is heading towards its end.

Power Minister Joseph Tegbe delivered the message in Lagos while keynoting the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 2026 Renewable Energy Outlook Conference, themed around transforming the power sector for industrial competitiveness.

Tegbe argued that only a fifth of the sector’s problems were technical, with the rest rooted in governance and commercial failings, and called for the kind of overhaul that reshaped telecommunications a quarter of a century ago. He said the government intended to privatize the power sector in full over time.

He encouraged firms to take advantage of options the Electricity Act 2023 had legalized, including embedded generation, industrial mini grids and direct deals with renewable producers, warning that early movers would gain the competitive edge. The Energy Transition Office, he noted, had already drawn in more than $3.6 billion in investment.

Chamber president Leye Kupoluyi called it a contradiction that a country sitting on vast gas reserves and abundant sunshine supplied barely 4,901 megawatts to over 220 million people. Lagos energy commissioner Biodun Ogunleye said the state spent more on diesel for its hospitals than on medical supplies, and that 6,000 megawatts now in the pipeline could draw relocated industries back to Lagos.