L-R: Founder, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, with President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, and Executive Director, Sahara Group, Kola Adesina at a meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima in Abuja recently
In line with its commitment to promoting sustainable development in Nigeria, Sahara Group has announced its plan to partner with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with the support of the Federal Government to tackle poverty, climate change, and health challenges in the country.
The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, recently chaired a meeting where critical issues bordering on the challenges of desertification, deforestation, agriculture, education, and vaccination, among others, were the subjects of discussion.
The meeting Co-chaired by Bill Gates, the Founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was attended by the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, Executive Director, of Sahara Group, Kola Adesina, and other stakeholders.,
Adesina said Sahara Group was exploring several avenues of contributing towards the effort to tackle the issues alongside the government and other stakeholders.
“These issues are quite important in Nigeria’s quest for sustainable development, ensuring that no one is left behind. We commend the Federal Government for leading this vital charge. Sahara Group exists to bring energy to life responsibly. Sahara Group will support this initiative as we continue to contribute our quota towards developing, energizing, and transforming our nation,” he said.
Adesina said Sahara Group would also work with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to promote polio eradication and vaccination to help the nation navigate health challenges that can be effectively overcome through prevention.
Global Forest Watch said recently that in 2010 Nigeria had about 10.9 million hectares (Mha) of natural forest, extending over 12 percent of its land area.
However, between 2002 and 2021, the groups said Nigeria lost 153 Kilo hectares (kha) of humid primary forest, making up 14 percent of its total tree cover loss in the same period.
At COP 26, Nigeria, with over 100 other countries, pledged to end deforestation by 2030, by raising required financing to support afforestation and introduction of initiatives such as removing deforestation from the global trade of food and other agricultural products such as palm oil, soya, and cocoa.
Going by findings from a Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) 2022 research conducted by a group of scholars, over 70 million Nigerians were directly or indirectly experiencing the negative impact of drought and desertification, with the latter being less a function of climate change, but more a product of human activities in Nigeria.
“Various studies and data indicate that we need to step up the rate of afforestation and galvanize collaborative interventions that will need all stakeholders on board. We will also need massive awareness campaigns to get our people to own the campaign by signing up for a paradigm shift from activities that endanger our environment,” Adesina said.
The contribution of the agricultural sector to the national GDP, he noted, was 24.05 percent in 2022, while that of the oil sector remained under 10 percent, adding that channeling efforts towards boosting agriculture across the country remained critical to promoting sustainable economic development in Nigeria.
“Nigeria accounts for up to 20 percent of the world’s cassava production (and 34 percent of Africa’s), making the country the largest producer of the crop in the world.
“The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture records that Nigeria is also the world’s largest producer of yam, accounting for over 70 percent of yam production in the world.
“The country produces over 47 million metric tonnes of yam annually and is also the largest producer of maize and rice in Africa. Clearly, we can leverage the entire agriculture value chain for economic transformation,” he added.
