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The truth is that Climate Change According to Vice President Yemi Obajo, Africa faces many challenges in its survival and economic development. It is therefore imperative that it develops a plan and a vision that addresses its unique characteristics.
At the Infrastructure Solutions Summit, organised by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Mr Osinbajo made this statement on Thursday.
Speaking on Africa’s position on the transition from gas to renewable energy, the vice president said, “we are in a peculiar position; this is why Africa needs to come in very forcefully to chart a different path. We are not just challenged in terms of global warming, but for us, it is also the existential challenge of just survival.”
It is the point that the vice president has been advocating for over a year, both at home and abroad. This issue was one of the high points of the summit which featured a set of two Fireside Chats with the VP and the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Akufo-Addo, anchored by BBC’s Nancy Kacungira.
According to Mr Osinbajo, “there are several voices around the world and in Africa who are saying the same thing. There is some progress. The EU has designated nuclear and natural gas as green investments. They also state that they will need to increase gas investments over the next 10 to achieve their 2050 targets.
“They are leaving us room to say that we, in Africa, are going to be needing investments in gas in the next 30 years for us to be able to meet our targets.”
Continuing, the VP noted that “Africa first needs to come together to put out a vision that is ours for climate change or carbon neutrality by 2050, 2070 or whenever it is convenient.
“I don’t think that Africa has articulated the vision yet, but there are ongoing efforts towards that. We believe that Egypt COP27 (upcoming climate change conference in Egypt) will be the beginning of an African vision and initiative. All of the decisions were made and initiated by countries wealthier than us, and they have essentially defined everything about how we respond. But we have our own unique challenges and particularities.
“We need to have access to energy, access to electricity just to be able to survive and create industry for the millions of people. So, Africa has an existential challenge and survival around our economies,” he added.
Justifying the case for a wholly African plan and vision on Climate Change, the vice president said, “no country in the world has been able to industrialize using renewable energy and we (Africa) have been asked to industrialize using renewable energy when everybody else in the world knows that we need gas-powered industries for business.
“We need to have investments in fossil fuels. We need energy access to develop. It is certain that the logic of this logic will force African leaders to see that it’s the right way to go.
“We actually need to create room for investments, not just in natural gas for export, but for cooking and for industry. So, I think that the sheer force of the logic of using gas to benefit our communities will make it inevitable for us to invest in fossil fuels.”
The vice president responded to a question about infrastructure development and said that the Buhari administration is committed towards the country’s infrastructure development.
According to Mr Osinbajo, “we have a Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund in the order of a billion dollars for a start. We started with the seed fund of about a trillion naira.”
He said “I think we have key opportunities, and it may be impossible now; we might need to do more. I believe that innovation is what we need.
“There’s a huge gap there, but I think innovation is what will play a significant part. For example, seeing the models that already exist, there is plenty of room for more improvements; (such as) insurance that has not yet been leveraged or used.”
Apart from President Akufo Adu-Addo of Ghana at the summit’s opening session, Kingsley Obiora, the Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was also present. President Samaila Zubairu, President of AFC; Benedict Orama, President of AFREXIM Bank; among others.
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
Best Regards
Idris Akinbajo
Managing Editor
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