By Bisola Adeyemo
Nigeria’s Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, has encouraged individuals and private sectors to initiate innovative solutions to fight against the effect of climate change and to develop green energy projects.
The minister made the urge in Abuja on Wednesday during the inaugural edition of the Nigeria-Africa Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit, themed: “Towards a Greener Africa.”
“Today’s convention is indeed important. Africa requires a huge amount of energy generation to drive its development, even as the world shifts away from fossil fuel to clean and renewable energy sources, in the fight against climate change.
“Amid this energy, transition lies many challenges and opportunities for a continent yearning for development. I believe this should spur us as a continent of diverse people to co-operate and collaborate more, initiate innovative solutions to the challenges that are peculiar to us, and come up with technologies and products that will lead to the growth and industrialization of Africa into a more environmentally friendly manner while encouraging the development and financing of green energy projects.
“Our meeting today provides the opportunity to share views on natural resources and energy market developments. Additionally, the morning session will focus on Maximizing Mineral potential and Attracting Private Investments. Our esteemed speakers will discuss the opportunities within the Nigerian Mining Sector, the underexplored minerals which are key to clean renewable energy, the success stories, and the strides towards driving Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the Sector.
“Participating countries in the Declaration of Cooperation would strengthen their cooperation, through joint assessment and viewpoints, with the aim to financing sustainable African Natural Resources and Energy Projects that are key to the transition, for the benefit of producers and consumers and to regularly review technical and ministerial levels the status of our cooperation.
“Our joint meetings and activities will support us in formulating favorable policy and strategy development for the natural resource sector as the world looks towards a greener future.
“We must strive to remain committed to our joint statements in the Declaration of Cooperation and ensure continuity. This is beyond attaining short-term, demand-supply balancing, while it calls for strengthening our cooperation through a dynamic and transparent framework for sustainable development in the medium to long term. These technical meetings will undoubtedly form an integral part of this critical process.” The minister said.