Sunday Dare: 300m Africans can access affordable energy by 2030

Sunday Dare, the special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on media and public communication, has expressed optimism about plans to provide affordable energy for 300 million Africans by 2030.

NAN reports that Dare spoke on Monday during the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

He said the Mission 300 initiative is supported by global donors such as the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The presidential aide said the G5 Sahel Solar Power project, which has received $10 billion in funding from the World Bank and AfDB, is a testament to the feasibility of Africa’s energy goals.

Dare said collaborative efforts at the energy summit would align with the financing needed for the initiative.

“Access to affordable energy for 300 million people by 2030 is very ambitious, but it is also doable,” he said.

“And why is that? Because you have several sources beyond hydro; you have solar, wind, and the new green hydrogen.

“And then if you consider the enormous deposits of gas we have, it is time for Africa to come together to give access to affordable power to its people.

“Five years looks like really tight, but sometimes when you get the journey started, you can get that journey accelerated, and then you can get to the target.

“Nigeria is leveraging this platform to energise the sector and to show what the president is trying to do. We have the Siemens project that was initiated under the previous administration.

“We’ve seen how President Tinubu has come in with an accelerated phase of the Siemens initiative, moving it from 5,000 megawatts to a higher capacity.”

Dare said Nigeria has a dynamic compact initiative which aligns with the Mission 300 agenda, adding that Tinubu has emphasised the role of energy in national development.

He noted that funding for the initiative would include grants, low-interest soft loans, capacity-building programmes, as well as international partnerships.

“Now we’re moving to several other alternative sources, and I think that Nigeria is doing the right thing, and needs international funding and backing. I think this summit will unbundle that,” he added.

“The experience and the capacity that the experts will bring and the training also matters. Right now on the top drawer of almost all African countries is the question of energy.

“How do we generate enough energy? And there are three key areas when it comes to energy provision for people in Africa: affordability, accessibility and sustainability.”