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Tinubu urges African leaders to prioritise electricity for citizens

President Bola Tinubu has concluded his visit to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he joined other African leaders to participate in the Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit.

Tinubu and his team arrived on Sunday, January 26, 2025. He is now on his way back to Abuja.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday, January 28.

Onanuga noted that the two-day summit, hosted by the government of Tanzania in collaboration with the African Union, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the World Bank Group, adopted the Dar es Salaam Declaration.

Onanuga said: “The Declaration focused on providing access to electricity for 300 million people in Africa by 2030.

“A high point of the event was the presidential endorsement of the Dar es Salaam Declaration by African leaders at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre.

“Following the reading of the Declaration, leaders from Nigeria, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia signed the document.

“Through the Declaration, the leaders from the 12 countries expressed their commitment to ensuring electricity access for their citizens in the next five years.

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“The 12 nations plan to achieve the goal through National Energy Compacts, which identify specific policy measures to address constraints across their energy sector and set targets based on their unique context.”

In the speech read by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, the Nigerian leader lauded the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank Group, and development partners for their collective pledge to bring electricity access to 300 million people in Africa by 2030.

President Tinubu called on African leaders to prioritise energy access, emphasising collective action.

“Let us work together to create a brighter future for our citizens – where every African can access reliable and affordable energy.

“A future where our industries thrive, our economies grow, and our people prosper,” Tinubu said.

President Tinubu also used the occasion to reaffirm Nigeria’s commitment to providing reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity to its unelectrified population by 2030.

Detailing the substantial progress Nigeria has achieved with the support of international development partners, Tinubu acknowledged AfDB’s $1.1 billion, expected to provide electricity for 5 million people by the end of 2026, while its $200 million in the Nigeria Electrification Project will provide electricity for 500,000 people by the end of 2025.

He thanked the President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, and Dr Akinwunmi Adesina of AfDB for their transformative vision, which he said “will light up and power Africa”.

He also applauded the contributions of the UN Sustainable Energy For All, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Global Energy Alliance for Development.

The Star