Steady power is my priority for Nigeria - President Bola Tinubu

 

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu joined other leaders yesterday in decrying the paradox of Africa’s vast energy wealth coexisting with widespread insufficiency.

He described it as an unacceptable reality that demands urgent action.

The President joined other leaders in adopting the Dar es Salaam Declaration, which commits to providing access to electricity for 300 million people in Africa by 2030.

He was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he participated in the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit.

The President returned to Abuja at about 7:40pm and was received by senior government officials.

The two-day Summit was hosted by the government of Tanzania in collaboration with the African Union, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the World Bank Group.

A high point of the event was the presidential endorsement of the Dar es Salaam Declaration by African leaders at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre.

Following the reading of the Declaration, leaders from Nigeria, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia signed the document.

Through the Declaration, the leaders from the 12 countries expressed their commitment to ensuring electricity access for their citizens in the next five years.

The 12 nations plan to achieve the goal through National Energy Compacts, which identify specific policy measures to address constraints across their energy sector and set targets based on their unique context.

Speaking at the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, through Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, President Tinubu stressed the need for collective efforts to bridge the continent’s energy gap.

According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President said: “As we all know, Africa is rich in energy resources, yet millions of our citizens still lack access to reliable and affordable energy.

“This situation is unacceptable. It is our responsibility to take collective action to change this narrative.”

President Tinubu reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to providing reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity to its unelectrified population by 2030.

“This is an ambitious goal, but we can achieve it together.

“As Nigeria’s President, I am committed to making energy access a top priority,” he said.

THE NATION