Africa is craving for industrial transformation and economic empowerment.
Leaders on the continent are making conscious efforts to make the continent an industrial hub rather than raw material-based economy.
But the Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has argued that efforts toward economic and social development of Africa will not materialise without adequate electricity supply.
According to the former African leader, the landmark needs huge capacity of power and energy to meet its industrial transformation agender.
Obasanjo was speaking on Friday during at the International Trade and Investment Forum, a sub-section of the ongoing 77th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to the Nigeria’s former president, Africans and its development partners must work together to raise sufficient investment for adequate power to help develop the continent.
Obasanjo said he personally believes the continent has the resources potentials out there.
The former presidents statement followed submission by the Director General of the World Trade Organization that Africa cannot industrialize or achieve continental manufacturing base without adequate sustainable energy.
In his contribution to the virtual event, Obasanjo said African countries need to create conducive environment to attract investment for the continent’s power generation, distribution and robust transmission.
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He challenged leaders at the virtual event to consider factors that motivate investments in the continents energy and power industry.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted that statistics of energy access on the continent was instructive.
She pointed that the International Energy Agency estimates a $28 billion annual energy investment gap on the continent from now up to 2030.
The WTO boss pointed out factors such as private sector participation, foreign investment needs and prospects as crucial to the power and energy drive of the continent for its development economically and socially.
On the subject of energy investment gap in Africa, Okonjo-Iweala said in order for African countries to increase the continent’s self-world trade, countries need to add more value to their natural products at the manufacturing base.
She said humanity is in times where the world is confronted by numerous artificial and natural misfortunes that are often difficult to manage.
She however encouraged leaders of Africa to also identify opportunities in most adversities for growth and development.
“There are shocks that hit a continent struggling to manage its health, debt and energy crises within a limited fiscal space. But we must not lose sight of the opportunities of this crisis. Africa is abundantly endowed with energy resources from gas to renewables, all waiting for investment”, stressed Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
She pointed that global energy prices make gas investments more evident, especially as a transitional mechanism.
“Even as we strive towards renewables, let us focus on mutually beneficial energy investments for Africa and the world by taking up the opportunities to harness the continent’s gas and renewable energy resources,” she concluded.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of NNPC Limited, Senator Margery Chuba Okadigbo, in her keynote address said sustainable and renewable energy is fundamental to Africa’s future.
She disclosed that by 2050, the continent would be home to about two billion people, and two in five of the world’s children would be born in Africa.
She on this note emphasized that meeting the needs of such a population with regards to sustainable energy and power resources for production and consumption will be crucial to the social well-being and economic development of the continent.
Senator Margery Chuba Okadigbo indicated that with a population of over 200 million, Nigeria’s power market offers numerous investment opportunities for investors.
She called on cooperate entities interested in power investments in the form of Independent Power Projects (IPPs) to consider the Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Agura and Obite IPPs.
