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.
He lauded the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank Group, and development partners for their collective pledge to bring electricity access to 300 million people in Africa by 2030.
President Tinubu called on African leaders to prioritise energy access, emphasising collective action.
“Let us work together to create a brighter future for our citizens—where every African can access reliable and affordable energy; a future where our industries thrive, our economies grow, and our people prosper,” the President said.
Detailing the substantial progress Nigeria has achieved with the support of international development partners, President Tinubu acknowledged AfDB’s $1.1 billion, expected to provide electricity for 5 million people by the end of 2026.
He noted that its $200 million in the Nigeria Electrification Project will provide electricity for 500,000 people by the end of 2025.
“We also look forward to the AfDB’s planned $700 million investment in the Nigeria Desert to Power programme and its planned $500 million facility for the Nigeria-Grid Battery Energy Storage System, which will provide electricity for an additional two million people.
“We have equally begun making plans to ensure the effectiveness of the World Bank’s $750 million support for expanding Nigeria’s distributed energy access via mini-grids and standalone solar systems that will provide access to power to 16.2 million people,” he said.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
