Access to affordable energy for 300m Africans by 2030 possible– Presidential aide
Sunday Dare
Published By: Paul Dada
By Salif Atojoko
Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to the President, Media and Public Communication, says access to affordable energy for 300 million Africans by 2030 is possible.
Dare said this while speaking with State House correspondents on the sidelines of the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit, on Monday, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
“Access to affordable energy for 300 million people by 2030 is very ambitious, but it is also doable. And why is that? Because you have several sources beyond hydro; you have solar, wind, and the new green hydrogen.
“And then if you consider the enormous deposits of gas we have, it is time for Africa to come together to give access to affordable power to its people,” said the presidential aide.
He said Mission 300 was supported by donors like the World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, the African Development Bank (ADB), with funding, which would make it realisable.
According to him, the World Bank and ADB are supporting the G5 Sahel Solar Power project with funding to the tune of 10 billion dollars.
He said concerted efforts at Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit would dovetail into the financing needed to give access to affordable energy to 300 million people on the continent by 2030.
“Five years looks like really tight, but sometimes when you get the journey started, you can get that journey accelerated, and then you can get to the target.
“Nigeria is leveraging this platform to energise the sector and to show what the president is trying to do. We have the Siemens project that was initiated under the previous administration.
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“We’ve seen how President Tinubu has come in with an accelerated phase of the Siemens initiative, moving it from 5,000 megawatts to a higher capacity,” said Dare.
He said Nigeria had a dynamic compact initiative that would help to push the Mission 300 agenda forward.
He said President Tinubu was focused on energy and had said at several times that no country could develop if it lacked the requisite energy.
“Now we’re moving to several other alternative sources, and I think that Nigeria is doing the right thing, and needs international funding and backing. I think this summit will unbundle that,” continued Dare.
He explained that part of the funding would be in the form of grants, soft loans with very low interest rates and capacity building.
“The experience and the capacity that the experts will bring and the training also matters.
“Right now on the top drawer of almost all African countries is the question of energy.
“How do we generate enough energy? And there are three key areas when it comes to energy provision for people in Africa: affordability, accessibility and sustainability,” said Dare.
He said these were also the pillars of the energy policy of President Tinubu.
(NAN)
