Energy Commission boss advocates global financial aid to address Africa’s poverty

The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), Dr. Mustapha Abdullahi, advocates for more investment in the energy sector by foreign investors to ameliorate poverty in Africa.

He made this assertion at the ongoing summit of the G20 Energy Transition Working Group meeting in Foz Do Iguaçu, Brazil.

The Energy expert, while speaking to delegates from across the globe underscored the important role of energy transition in achieving both clean affordable energy access and net-zero emissions target by 2050 in African countries, and Nigeria in particular. Dr. Abdullahi posited further that modern, affordable, reliable and sustainable energy is critical for economic growth and the provision of access to modern energy contributes greatly to improved health care, better education and economic growth in both urban and rural areas in Africa.

His words, “One of the conclusions of the COP28 Summit held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2023 was the commitment of the participating countries to transition away from fossil fuels to renewable fuels in a just orderly and equitable manner so as to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 globally”.

While further reiterating the Federal Government of Nigeria under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment, Dr. Abdullahi described Nigeria’s pledge to support the global initiative made at the COP28 as sacrosanct. He affirmed the country’s resolve to triple the installed capacity of renewable energy and double the rate of global energy efficiency by 2030.

Speaking to the theme of this year’s summit which is woven around “Building A Just World And A Sustainable Planet”, the Energy Commission boss stressed the fact that other germane problems need to be addressed to guarantee such goal. One of such problems is the energy poverty on the African continent. He emphasised the need for more energy because such is pivotal to reducing poverty, preventing diseases, and for supply of clean accessible for essential hygiene.

Dr. Abdullahi while alluding to Nigeria being the first African country to officially launch a detailed Energy Transition Plan (ETP) to address the problems of energy poverty and climate change and deliver universal access to affordable energy (SDG7) by 2030 and net-zero by 2060, the country’s projected estimates require that $410billion would be required to deliver improved Energy Transition Plan (ETP) by 2060.

The ECN boss concluded that finance is key to driving a clean energy transition, and this is lacking across African countries. Hence, the need for foreign investors to come into the country – Nigeria which he said has a stable environment for investment to thrive. According to him, Africa is one of the most affected continents by climate change, and the present funding is grossly inadequate. The continent, as per Nationally Determined Contributions requires about $53billion annually between year 2020 and 2035. He therefore called on G20 leaders to provide intervention in the area of adequate finance to address the energy poverty militating against Africa.