30% power supply from renewables by 2030: Another perspective
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By Chukwumerije Okereke
Vice President Yemi Osibanjo was reported by many news platforms as reaffirming the commitment that Nigeria will achieve at least 30 percent of its power supply from renewable energy by 2030.
It is reported that he reinstated the commitment to this ambitious target while inaugurating a 1.12 MW Solar Hybrid Project at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, in Bauchi State.
The intention to have at least 30 percent of the total electricity supply from renewable energy is very welcome and heartwarming.
It signals that Nigeria is committed to the Paris Agreement and fulfilling its climate change action pledge as contained in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). More importantly, it shows that Nigeria is cognisant of the global transition away from fossil fuel and the vast opportunities that renewable energy provides for solving the country’s energy poverty and economic development
More Nigerians will be trapped in poverty because of increasing population
Nigeria’s uncontrolled population is becoming worrying as the prospects of poverty reduction in the near future is increasingly becoming a mirage. This was underscored last week at the virtual launch of the 2021 Macroeconomic Outlook of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). The World Bank said at the forum that about 15 million to 20 million more Nigerians would be tipped into poverty by 2022. At present, about 100 million people, half the population of Africa’s biggest economy, are already living below the poverty line.
World Bank Senior Economist, Gloria Joseph-Raji, said that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Nigerian economy was hard. Indeed, the country experienced its second and deepest recession in five years since the 1980s in 2020, evidently a fallout of the catastrophic drop in the prices of oil, the country’s main foreign exchange earner. “We consider Nigeria right now to be at a
The rise is a sombre illustration of the crisis the nation’s food sector has faced, with millions of poor citizens struggling daily to buy food at exorbitant rates.
AfCFTA: Mapping Nigeria’s foray into Africa’s single market
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By Yinka Kolawole
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AfCFTA, is a continent-wide trade pact aimed at tearing down barriers to commerce among African countries. It is focused on trade liberalisation across the continent and provides for progressive elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers and development and promotion of regional and continental value chains.
The agreement which came into effect on the 1st of January, 2021, is expected to encourage trade activities by removing tariffs of over 90% of goods traded between member countries.
AfCFTA is expected to drive the integration of African countries into the global economy and enhance their bargaining power in international trade negotiations.
By Prince Okafor
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has advised the Federal Government to focus on four issues which it noted as priorities for enhanced growth of the nation’s economy.
The four issues according to the Group are macroeconomic stability, policy and regulatory consistency, sectoral reforms, and human capital development.
The advice was contained in the Group’s macroeconomic outlook report for 2021, with the theme “4 priorities for the Nigerian Economy in 2021 and beyond.”
Speaking in this regard, Chairman of NESG, Mr. Asue Ighodalo, said, “The NESG recognises the importance of engagement for the growth of the Nigerian economy and that is why the 2021 Macroeconomic outlook report focuses on the sectors Nigeria should prioritise for growth and accelerated economic recovery.