By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Nigeria’s ambition to achieve energy transition targets in the nearest future has received the full backing of the German government.
The Country Director of GIZ Nigeria and ECOWAS, Dr Markus Wagner gave the commitment at Third German-Nigerian Energy Transition Dialogue held in Abuja.
The Symposium on Green Hydrogen, was financed by the Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), was attended by distinguished members from the energy sector and high-level delegations from Nigeria and Germany.
In his opening remarks during the Dialogue, Dr Wagner cautioned that without a deep and genuine commitment to decarbonizing “our energy systems over the next 10 years, we will never reach the Paris Agreement goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5-degrees and the several commitments we made in the last COP 29”.
According to him, the event “is also a reaffirmation of our commitment to Nigeria and its goal toward achieving its energy transition targets”.
The Country Director pointed out that as a people, both Nigeria and Germany have come a long way in their energy partnership and bilateral cooperation., noting that this year, Nigeria and Germany will celebrate their 50th Anniversary in bilateral cooperation.
“Here in Nigeria, GIZ Nigeria has been and remains a very active and committed partner to the German Nigerian energy partnership. Over the last 10 years, GIZ has maintained an extensive Energy and Climate portfolio in Nigeria.
“One of our major programmes, the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), which is co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, has been at the forefront of creating an enabling environment for investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean cooking, and rural electrification in Nigeria.
“Since its inception in 2013, the NESP has remained a proof of our commitment to addressing the energy challenges in Nigeria and facilitating a transition towards cleaner and more sustainable energy sources.
“Not just limiting ourselves to the NESP, GIZ is currently implementing other programmes in the areas of low-carbon fuels. One of such programmes is the German-Nigerian Hydrogen Office, which is being implemented by GIZ on behalf of the Federal Foreign Office and financed by the International Climate Initiative funded.
“The Partnerships to Accelerate the Global Energy Transition (PACT) is another of similar programme which supports the acceleration of energy transition in Nigeria. These programmes together seek to support the creation of an enabling framework for a seamless and successful energy transition plan, build local capacity across various sectors, strengthen the civil society, and academia, as well as offer support to private sector and specific projects”, he added. READ ALSO:
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In his remarks, a representative of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, disclosed that Nigeria needs about $10 billion to support its Energy Transition plan.
According to him, to achieve Nigeria’s energy transition plan and a successful onboarding of hydrogen into the economy, Nigeria requires a clear policy, infrastructure development and funding.
A panel discussion with the theme: “The transformation towards green power and Hydrogen in Nigeria”, was held during the Dialogue. State Secretary and Envoy for International Climate Action, Germany Foreign Office, Ms Jennifer Morgan was one of the panelists.
