The federal government is seeking effective collaboration between Nigeria and other West African countries on energy transition.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo made the call Monday in Abuja while declaring open the two-day International Energy Transition Week, Nigeria–ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Forum (ESEF) 2022, themed, ‘Achieving Sustainable Energy Targets in the ECOWAS Region: Moving from Resilience to Transition’.
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Osinbajo, represented by the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, restated the call on developed countries to bridge the disparity in energy investments.
He said, “Of the $2.8 trillion invested in renewable energy from 2000 to 2020, only about 2%, or $60 billion, came to Africa.
“The West African region received just 7% of that, about USD4 billion. To reach our goals, sufficient capital must be made available in the region, and we must do our part in creating the enabling environment for these funds.
“This is a crucial time for us to collaborate as neighbours and work interdependently, leveraging on our cooperation and abundant energy resources to secure for ourselves and our children a sustainable energy market for the socio-economic development of the region.
“In particular, we must work together on strategies and reforms needed to crowd in the investments required for real and impactful projects and progress on the ground. Lack of access to finance remains the biggest challenge for accelerating action on energy access and climate goals in Africa.”
Osinbajo recalled that at COP26, in Glasgow, President Muhammadu Buhari made a commitment on behalf of Nigeria to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060/
He added that “The realisation of this goal depends on the implementation of our nation’s Energy Transition Plan (ETP) which was recently launched by this administration.”
Daily Trust reports that the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP27, will be held November 6–18, 2022 at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
The Ambassador of Spain to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Juan Ignacio Sell, said energy poverty and security needed to be addressed to achieve sustainable energy transition.
“The EU is planning to allocate 600 million euros to the sustainable energy sector in West Africa alone,” he said.
Speaking during a panel discussion on ‘Fostering Energy Transition Investment in West Africa’, Aliyu said his ministry was working hard to raise the operational capacity of the country’s national grid through the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI).
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