…Partners W’Bank to provide energy for 300m Africans
From Uche Usim, Washington DC
President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, has said that no economy can industrialise in darkness, underscoring the importance of electricity in growing the fortunes of any nation.
In appreciation of the need to electrify Africa, Adesina said that the World Bank Group and the AfDB are collaborating to provide energy access to 300 million Africans by 2030.
Adesina and the World Bank President, Ajay Banga, made the pledge at the Energising Africa session at the ongoing Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington DC.
The two corporate leaders said Africa was where the energy battle will be won or lost and that the time has come to end energy poverty on the continent and usher in generational prosperity.
Adesina said electricity supply remained the most important factor in the quest to industrialise the continent, calling for strategic investments in electricity.
According to him, “No economy can industrialise in the dark. No economy can be competitive without energy”, adding that many Africans have been forced to accept lack of electricity as a normal development.
He said, “When Ajay came to see me in Abidjan, we agreed on two things. First, let us solve Africa’s problem of energy. Second, let Africa feed herself.
“We spend a lot of money trying to create jobs. You can’t create jobs without energy. Energy is like blood in the body of businesses. Economies thrive on energy.
“The amount of economic growth tourism have depends on the amount of energy you have to power the economy. ”
On his part, Banga said, “Over 600 million people in Africa do not have access to any form of power. For me, that is absolutely an unacceptable situation.
“Power is a means through which people can have access to good health, access to manufacturing, access to agriculture and improve the quality of life.
“Without power, people won’t have good health, good education manufacturing and all that. Power is the way and means of eliminating poverty, ensure productivity and grow the economy.
“I grew up in India and I saw the impact that access or lack of access can have on the people. I saw in my own childhood how access to power can increase the quality of the people and all I can say is that we should look at it as a very important human right which helps people to harness their potential”, he explained.