Sanusi Mohammed Ohiare

Sanusi Mohammed Ohiare (born 6 March 1985) is a Nigerian rural energy development expert, public servant, the youngest executive director in President Muhammadu Buhari’s first tenure between 2015 and 2019, and a board member of the Rural Electrification Agency, since April 2017. 
== Early life and family ==
Dr. Ohiare was born at Garki Hospital, Abuja, to the family of Senator M.S. Ohiare and Hajia Aminat Ohiare, who hails from Adavi-eba, Adavi, Nigeria in Kogi State. He is married to Rihanat Amin and they have three children. He is an avid basketball player who participated as a member of his high school varsity team and at University of Dundee men’s basketball team. 
== Education ==
Sanusi Ohiare attended Suleja Academy Staff School (Now Federal Government Academy, Suleja) in Niger State, Nigeria from 1989 to 1995. Between 1995 and 2001, he attended Federal Government College Kwali, Abuja, Nigeria, where he was the house captain of a dormitory student residence, called Ikenga House in his final year. Thereafter, he had his bachelor’s degree in Economics at the University of Jos, Nigeria from 2002 to 2006. 
Between 2009 to 2011, he attended the University of Dundee, Scotland, UK, where he obtained a Master of Science in energy Studies, with a specialization in Energy Finance. Thereafter, he received his Phd in Rural Energy Development from De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, in 2015.
== Career ==
Sanusi Ohiare was the youngest to be appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2017, as an executive director of the Rural Electrification Fund and board member, at the Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria. Together with his managing director Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi and the rest of the team, they opened up the off-grid electrification space for investments in Nigeria and attracted over to $550 million dollars from donor agencies and an estimated $1 billion from private sector for renewable energy development in rural communities, markets, 37 Federal Universities and 7 teaching Hospitals.
Ohiare led the operationalization of the Rural Electrification Fund, with support from the World Bank, German Government and Department for International Development(DFID), by developing operational guidelines for accessing grants, and initiatives for transparent and competitive bid towards enabling Public Private Partnerships for deploying Mini-Grids and solar home systems for rural dwellers in Nigeria. 
He led the commissioning of a number of projects under the first Rural Electrification Fund Call for grants, amounting to a total of 1.9 million Naira, which were successfully awarded under his leadership to provide 12 Mini-Grids and 19,130 Solar Home Systems spread across Nigeria. He raised 6 million Euros from the European Union and German Government in grants to be matched by an additional 6 million Euros, raised from low interest loans from local and commercial banks as debt, as well as equity from private developers towards providing a sustainable solution for electrification of the poorest communities in Nigeria, under the Mini-Grid Acceleration Scheme and raised another 3.3 Million Euros for the Interconnected Mini-Grid Acceleration Scheme.
== Honors and awards ==
* Appointed North Central Coordinator – Youths, under the 2019 Muhammadu Buharii-Yemi Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Council, in January 2019.
* Mandela Washington Fellow for Young African Leaders Initiative on Public Management with a focus on Energy, 2017.
== Publications ==
Articles published in energy journals:
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== References ==
== External links ==
* Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria - REA
Category:Nigerian civil servants