Abuja, July 18, 2024(NAN)The Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu, has called for appropriate and enabling legislation to assure investors of the Federal Government’s commitment to power sector reforms.
The minister made the call when he received Mr Julian Sell, the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria.
The envoy was accompanied on the visit by the Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Spain, Maria Velasco and Head of Cooperation, Santiago Ferera.
Adelabu said that the legislation was necessary to drive the reforms necessary in the power sector and to convince investors of the Nigerian government’s seriousness in its power sector reforms.
The minister said to drive the reforms necessary in the power sector, there must be appropriate legislation adding that the market should also determine the operation of the sector,
According to him, to address the issue of liquidity and market governance which he described as the bane of the sector, appropriate policies were necessary.
”There must be collaboration between the government and other stakeholders”, he said.
The minister said that Spain had private sector presence in areas of renewable energy in most parts of Africa and would want more Spanish companies’ presence in Nigeria
‘On the Electricity Distribution Companies (Discos), he said a Spanish company was already working with the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) in resolving challenges in areas of billings and revenue collection.
Adelabu commended the Spanish government on its ambitious agenda in the country adding that the meeting was to also intimate him with opportunities in the sector and the government’s commitment towards sectorial reforms, targets and the strategies put in place to achieve the targets.
He said that such targets are all geared towards enabling Nigerians to live good lives by giving them access to energy and to have impactful value and attract investors.
According to him, over-reliance on imports by Nigeria is impacting foreign exchange and the government is putting plans in place to change the situation.
” The pressure is high since we import virtually everything despite our natural endowment in terms of resources.“
”The federal government plans to promote the export of value-added products by developing the local manufacturing industries.
” This plan is also aimed at gaining international acceptance and creating employment for Nigerians”, he said.
Adelabu said that part of the power sector reform goals was the expansion of energy access to bring more participants into the energy net.
He said that the country’s energy transition goal was also ready to collaborate with international bodies to reduce carbon emissions in the environment.
”We plan to achieve net zero emission by year 2060 as our long term target, the medium targets is to achieve about 30,000mw of power out of which 30 percent would be renewable energy by year 2030”, he said.
Earlier, the ambassador said that Spain acknowledges the crucial role of the Nigerian power sector.
He said he was aware that the minister runs a ministry that is crucial to Nigeria, its people and for security development.
Sell commended Adelabu for the work done in the power sector since his assumption of duty.
According to him, the minister’s interactions with Spanish companies have been the question about the power sector in Nigeria and how to play more active roles was always coming up.
“We are trying to add a more ambitious agenda to our present role in Nigeria. We have always worked with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
”We have a strong programme with ECOWAS that covers many sectors and one of them is in the area of renewable energy”.
“ We consider ourselves the founding fathers of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency,” he said.
Sell said that through grants from the Spanish government, they have been part of the centre of activities with a number of their programmes.
He said that the Spanish government also want to be active in renewable energy projects in Nigeria. “We are interested in electrification projects in rural areas.
”Presently, we are working with a private company in Rivers State, it is part of the programme we have with the European Union and I want to inform you that we are starting another phase of that programme soon.
”When we are clearer about what the role of the Ministry would be, we will come back to you and your team”, he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
