The African Development Bank has revealed plans to invest US $12bn in Nigeria’s energy programme. AfDb President Akinwumi Adesina,confirmed the statement during the inaugural edition of the Africa Energy Market Place saying that there was a need to act speedily to accelerate the plans to light up and power Africa.
“The bank has made a US $12bn investment commitment to its new deal on Energy for Africa programme. Sub-Saharan Africa currently has 14 % of the world’s population and accounts for 4% of global energy investment. Analysts at the bank note that several countries, including Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana and Kenya, are on track to reaching universal electricity access by 2030,” he said.
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Energy consumption
Adesina acknowledged the AEMP as an industry-wide collaborative platform convened by the AfDB to address barriers to mobilizing and scaling-up private investment into the energy sector by bringing together key stakeholders in the continent’s energy sector.
The Director, Côte d’Ivoire Cabinet of Petrol and Renewable Energy Development Ministry, Jacques Chevalier,also stated that energy held a critical role in Africa’s economic transformation, particularly in improving the living conditions of Africans.
He added that the workshop specifically sought to address Africa’s dismal energy and electricity production and consumption, which currently stood at 150kWh per capita.
