Nigeria's federal government has embarked on a pilot project to generate electricity from wind in Katsina State.

Sam Gekpe, Managing Director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), said that the high lying areas in the centre and northern parts of the country have great potential for wind farms because of the strong wind conditions.

He explained the federal government is following a market orientated bottom-up approach to rural electrification, rather than a centrally planned one. Electrification projects will therefore rise from particular needs in communities, while the REA will only establish general policies.