Two major international organisations, the World Bank and the US Export-Import Bank (EximBank) have announced plans to commit over $3 billion to the implementation of Nigeria’s energy transition plan.
At the global virtual launch of Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan, a roadmap to tackle the dual crises of energy poverty and climate change, Shubham Chaudhuri, Nigeria’s country director, World Bank, said it aims at committing over $1.5 billion toward the country’s energy transition plan.
“We plan to commit over $1.5 billion towards the Energy Transition Plan on renewable energy, on power sector reforms, and potentially hydropower, on clean cooking, and wherever opportunities arise,” he said.
“The policy and institutional reforms that will be necessary are also part of the agenda and we hope to be able to provide support for the fundamentally imperative of energy access but in a way that is consistent with the energy transition, what I think of as the NEAT imperative.
“The Nigerian Energy Access and Transition (NEAT) imperative is what we here at the World Bank are absolutely committed to supporting,” Chaudhuri said.
On his part, Adam Cortese, chief executive officer (CEO), Sun Africa, a renewable energy solutions company, said it was in the final stage of talks with the US EXIM Bank on a $1.5 billion financing package.
“The launch of Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan has further accelerated our efforts, proving Nigeria to be fertile grounds for investments in the sector. We are in the final stages of discussion with US EXIM Bank on a USD 1.5 billion financing package,” Cortese said.
“We are truly excited about the future and we are looking forward to helping Nigeria lead by way of example in Africa.”
Speaking on the need to have a peculiar transition plan, Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo said “for Africa, the problem of energy poverty is as important as our climate ambitions. Energy use is crucial for almost every conceivable aspect of development. Wealth, health, nutrition, water, infrastructure, education, and life expectancy are significantly related to the consumption of energy per capita.”
The vice president highlighted the significant scale of resources required to attain both development and climate ambitions.
“Nigeria would need to spend $410 billion above business-as-usual spending to deliver our Transition Plan by 2060, which translates to about $10 billion per year,” Osinbajo said.
The VP said the significant scale of resources required to attain both development and climate ambitions in Nigeria would amount to spending $410 billion which is above business-as-usual spending to deliver the Transition Plan by 2060, which translates to about $10 billion per year.
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“The average $3 billion per year investments in renewable energy recorded for the whole of Africa between 2000 and 2020 will certainly not suffice,” he added.
Underscoring the importance of collaboration, the Vice President then noted that “we developed our Energy Transition Plan to engage with the rest of the world in a serious, thorough and data-backed manner.”
Osinbajo explained that “there is a clear need for African nations to engage more critically and vocally in conversations on our global climate future.
For Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, access to finance remains the top challenge facing the continent.
“Access to finance remains the biggest challenge for accelerating climate and development action in Africa. At COP26 in Glasgow, G7 nations announced $8.5 billion South Africa just energy transition partnership to support coal phase-out,” Ahmed said.
Reeling out the breakdown of the financing, she said the country needs: “$150 billion net expense on improving generation capacity, $135 billion on building transmission and distribution infrastructure.
“$79 billion on delivering clean cooking solutions, $21 billion on decarbonizing industries, and $12 billion on transport, and another $12 billion on oil and gas decarbonization,” she said.
Speakers at the event commended Nigeria’s leadership and pioneering role in the region, emphasizing the need for data-driven country-level energy transition plans that recognise the unique pathways each country would need to take in order to achieve a just, inclusive and equitable energy transition for all.
The launch also featured remarks from Nigerian Ministers and officials, including, Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi; Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu; Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; and the Managing Director, Rural Electrification Agency, Ahmad Salihijo.
Other speakers included the Minister of Petroleum and Energies from Senegal, Aissatou Gladima; Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy from Egypt, Mohamed Shaker El-Markabi as well as representatives of the United Nations, Sustainable Energy for All, The World Bank, African Development Bank, IRENA, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet.
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