By Chesa Chesa
President Bola Tinubu has concluded his visit to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he joined other African leaders to participate in the two-day Mission 300 Africa Energy Summit hosted by the government of Tanzania in collaboration with the African Union, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the World Bank Group,
During the summit, the leaders adopted the Dar es Salaam Declaration, at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre, which is focused on providing access to electricity for 300 million people in Africa by 2030.
Following the reading of the Declaration, leaders from Nigeria, Chad, Côte 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. The plan by the 12 nations is 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 Nigeria’s 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,” the President said in the speech by the Minister of Power.
President Tinubu also used the occasion to reaffirm Nigeria’s commitment to providing reliable, affordable, and sustainable electricity to its unelectrified population by 2030.
“This is an ambitious goal, but we can achieve it together. As Nigeria’s President, I am committed to making energy access a top priority,” he said.
Detailing the substantial progress Nigeria has achieved with the support of international development partners, President 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.
“We also look forward to the AfDB’s planned $700 million investment in the Nigeria Desert to Power programme and its planned $500 million facility for the Nigeria-Grid Battery Energy Storage System, which will provide electricity for an additional two million people.
“We have equally begun making plans to ensure the effectiveness of the World Bank’s $750 million support for expanding Nigeria’s distributed energy access via mini-grids and standalone solar systems that will provide access to power to 16.2 million people,” he said.