From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
As part of measures to ensure clean energy in Nigeria, World Bank has approved over $750 million for the development of renewable energy.
Speaking at the launch of Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Implementation Framework in Abuja, the World Banks representative in Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri said that World Bank, through its International Development Association (IDA) provides grants on low zero-interest loans for projects and programmes that boost economic growth; reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives.
” The World Bank has approved the Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) project, which is financed by an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $750 million and will leverage over $1 billion of private capital and significant parallel financing from development partners, including $100 million from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet and $200 million from Japan International Cooperation Agency.
” Other development partners collaborating on the programme include the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the German Development Agency (GIZ), and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
“The DARES project aims to provide over 17.5 million Nigerians with new or improved access to electricity through distributed renewable energy solutions. The DARES project will use innovative financing solutions to scale up private sector led clean electricity provision in Nigeria.
“As of 2021, over 85 million Nigerians lacked access to electricity; businesses and households with access to the national grid have faced unreliable and insufficient supply, a gap often filled with power from petrol and diesel-run generator sets that are costly and highly polluting to people and the environment. To further address the access gap, DARES will build on the achievements of the World Bank-financed Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), which has supported the establishment of 125 mini grids and the sale of over a million Solar Home Systems, through which more than 5.5 million Nigerians have gained access to electricity. NEP has also resulted in the creation of over 5,000 private-sector local green jobs in Nigeria.
“We are committed to expanding clean energy-based access in Nigeria, with the USD $750 million Nigeria DARES project being the largest ever single distributed energy project of the World Bank globally. It will benefit over 17.5 million unserved, underserved, rural, and remote Nigerians through the deployment of standalone solar and mini grids and replace more than 280,000 polluting and expensive petrol and diesel generator sets, an important step for Nigeria towards achieving its energy transition targets,” she said
Chaudhuri who spoke through Dr Ahmed Al Qababy said that the bank’s annual commitments are constantly on the rise and have averaged $21 billion over the past three years, with about 61 per cent going to Africa.
In his presentation, the Director General of National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Dr Salisu Dahiru, said that the comprehensive NDC entails a 20 per cent reduction in emissions compared to the Business As Usual (BAU) projection by 2030.
“With international backing, the ambition is higher, (45 per cent) compared to BAU, an increase from the previous target set in 2015 NDC.
“This revised commitment implies a substantial reduction of approximately 100mtCO2 compared to 2018 levels showcasing Nigeria’s aim for a significant reduction in emissions despite lower expectations in economy –a modest 2.7 per cent gross domestic products (GDP) growth in the past decade” he said.
While launching the Nigeria’s NDC Implementation Framework, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume said that one of the causes of insecurity is ecological.
According to Akume who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant (technical), Professor Babatunde Bolaji Bernard, observed that the lean budgetary provisions would not be enough to tackle desert encroachment which is posing a dangerous threat to the country.