Sahara Power Group, a Sahara Group company, is to collaborate with Pan-Atlantic University (PAU) to enhance human capital development in the nation’s power sector.
The operator of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest privately owned integrated power company said the collaboration would be through transformative engineering education and fostering partnership across industries.
Details of the collaborative initiative was contained in Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two organizations to establish a partnership that would see Sahara Power Group join forces with the PAU’s School of Science and Technology for capacity building through shared knowledge driven by insights, experiences, and opportunities for exchange programmes.
“This is expected to shore up “empirical capacity and impact” required to make the power sector “innovative, adaptable and sustainable” across the value chain,” the Managing Director, Sahara Power Group, Dr. Anthony Youdeowei, said, describing the partnership as a unique example of “town-gown relations.”
“This is the beginning of a very fruitful engagement between Sahara and PAU. We look forward to commencing this promising collaboration, first with Egbin Power Plc, Sahara’s Power Generation Company, and then cascading to our other entities, Ikeja Electric and First Independent Power Limited. We are confident that this partnership will chart the roadmap towards transforming Nigeria’s power sector. Sahara Power remained committed to seeking out partnerships that would help drive its vision of “Creating Valuable and Sustainable Energy Solutions responsibly,” Youdeowei added.
The Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, PAU, Professor Christian Bolu, who is also a Professor of Mechatronics Engineering, said the partnership would help PAU students to achieve an “outside perspective” on issues and understand the importance of sustainable business practices in solving the real-life challenges of the power sector.
“This is definitely an opportunity for Pan-Atlantic University to not only benefit from the resources that the Sahara Power Group will provide in the collaborative partnership, but also, while it serves as a chance for us in the academia, with support from Sahara Power, to address challenges faced within the industry,” he said.
On the details of the agreement, Head, Talent Management, Sahara Power Group, Henry Ajibola, said: “We are very confident that this collaboration between Sahara Power Group and Pan-Atlantic University is the step in the right direction. Having Sahara Power employees go to Pan-Atlantic University as adjunct lecturers means a transference of practical knowledge as well as experience.”
He further emphasized that these efforts would subsequently create a symbiotic relationship where academia and industry collaborate seamlessly for mutual benefit, ultimately contributing to the advancement of engineering education and practice in Nigeria.
The Director, Alumni and Internship, Pan-Atlantic University, Nkiru Ukachukwu, said PAU was looking forward to the impact of the partnership on the expertise of PAU students, especially with regards to functional knowledge of how the sector operates and what is required to transform the power sector in Nigeria.
“With this collaboration we can already project a pipeline of young engineers that are future ready and equipped with the know-how to tackle Nigeria’s peculiar power challenges,” she stated.
Head, Corporate Communications at Sahara Group, Bethel Obioma, said Sahara Power Group has consistently advocated the need for the power sector in Africa to rethink its human capital profile to enable it address challenges, optimize emerging opportunities, drive generational knowledge transfer, and birth future solutions today through technology. This partnership between Sahara and PAU is one of the vehicles for keeping employees agile and adaptable to unfolding trends,” Obioma said.
Sahara Power Group operates Egbin Power, the largest thermal plant in sub-Saharan Africa, Ikeja Electric, Nigeria’s largest distribution company, and First Independent Power Limited (FIPL). Sahara Power, through these entities, contributes 17% (percent) of power generated and distributed in Nigeria, making it the nation’s foremost power company.
