PICTURE CAPTION
L-R. Project Officer EU, Godfrey Ogbemudia, with Head of Operation, EU,Lecieli Tassin-Pelzer; Ambassador of the EU to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi; Minister of Power, Abubakar D. Aliyu; Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba, and Trade Counsellor of the EU,John Taylor, during the EU delegation visit the Minister of Power recently in Abuja.
MEDIATRACNET
The Federal Government will continue to welcome more investors to reposition the power sector, the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, has said.
Aliyu said this on Friday while receiving a delegation from the European Union to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) lead by the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi, in Abuja.
The Minister said President Muhammadu Buhari was working hard towards repositioning the infrastructural development in power sector as part of efforts to give the country a stable and reliable power supply system.
The Nigeria electricity supply industry value chain process, the Minister, said required all the support it could get, describing European Union’s relationship with Nigeria as supportive.
He said more of EU collaboration in the renewable energy would be welcomed as he informed the delegation of Nigeria’s policy to expand with about 30 percent in renewable energy the operational capacity of the Nigeria electricity supply industry (NESI) to 30,000 MW by the year 3030.
He spoke about the various ongoing interventions by the government in the sector, including the renewable energy projects.
Aliyu further beckoned on investors to key into the available opportunities in the NESI since the government has created the enabling environment through the provision of policy direction.
He cited the government-to-government collaboration between the German government and its Nigerian counterpart which led the later to sign a power project deal with Siemens AG, a Germany based firm.
Urging the EU Ambassador to encourage European investors to show interest in investing in Nigeria’s power sector, the Minister said there were rooms to accommodate more investors.
Earlier, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Samuela Isopi, congratulated the Minister on his appointment and the success recorded so far in the Power Sector.
Isopi affirm the importance of Nigeria to the European Union, stating that EU was the largest grant donor to the power sector, and have in the last two years been developing a dynamic partnership with the government to re-lunch and boost electricity supply.
She said a road map and a plan of action have been developed with priority areas in the sector to boost generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.
The cooperation framework in Green and digital economy, she said, was to see there was renewable energy and diversification which the EU would always be available to assist.
The EU Ambassador assured the Minister of the European Union’s continuous support in resolving the challenges in the country’s power sector.
