Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday, August 31, 2022, departed Abuja for the U.S. to seek global partnerships and support for Nigeria’s recently inaugurated Energy Transition Plan.
Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Office of the Vice President, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.
Osinbajo is leading Nigeria’s Energy Transition Implementation Working Group (ETWG) on the U.S. mission for meetings.
The meetings, which start on Sept. 1, are to promote the plan and secure global support from the U.S. government, the private sector, and other development partners.
The ETWG, which is chaired by the vice president, comprises relevant ministers and other top government officials.
Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan, inaugurated the previous week at a global virtual event, is a homegrown, data-backed and multi-pronged strategy developed for the attainment of 2060 net-zero emissions.
Their commitments are in five critical sectors — Power, Cooking, Oil and Gas, Transport and Industry.
Nigeria needs $410 billion to deliver the Transition Plan by 2060.
Among other highlights, the plan needs at least $10 billion per annum above business as usual spending for effective implementation.
At the inauguration, the World Bank and a renewable energy organisation – Sun Africa, pledged $1.5 billion each, totaling an initial $3 billion investment to support the implementation of Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan.
While in the U.S., Osinbajo will meet U.S. Vice President, Kamala Harris; U.S Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm; Secretary of Treasury, Janet Yellen; and President of World Bank Group, David Malpass.
The vice president is also scheduled to speak on Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan at the Centre for Global Development in Washington DC.
The vice president’s delegation to the U.S. include Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; and Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu.
Others are Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General/CEO for Sustainable Energy for All, Damilola Ogunbiyi.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S., Uzoma Emenike, will also join the delegation.
The vice president will return to Abuja early next week.
By Chijioke Okoronkwo
