Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, says Nigeria needs affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy resources to abolish energy poverty and drive economic growth.
He made this statement at the Nigeria-Africa Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit in Abuja.
According to the minister, energy poverty is still prevalent in the world, especially in Africa where millions of people do not have access to electricity or clean cooking fuels.
Citing data from the United Nations, Sylva said that about 760 million people lack access to electricity worldwide, with three out of four of them living in sub-Saharan Africa.
He also added that one-third of the world’s population (about 2.6 billion people) had no access to clean cooking fuels, with over 900 million of these in sub-Saharan Africa.
Furthermore, the minister said that only 48 percent of the Sub-Saharan African population have access to electricity, while only 18 percent also have access to clean cooking fuels, compared with a global average of 90 percent and 70 percent respectively.
The Chief Executive Officer of JRB Solar Investment Limited, Mr. Jimoh Badamosi, stressed the need for partnership between state-owned enterprises and private organizations in renewable energy development to address Africa’s energy crisis.
