The African Development Bank (AfDB) says Sokoto state will benefit from the $20 billion Desert-to-Power initiative intended to provide on-grid and off-grid power to parts of the sub-Saharan Africa.
The president of the bank, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina disclosed this when he received Sokoto state governor, Aminu Tambuwal in Abidjan, headquarters of the bank recently.
According to him, the Desert-to-Power project, which “is a flagship initiative to harness the vast solar power potential across the Sahel region and provide access to electricity as well as enable socioeconomic development and resilience in the region” is currently covering Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali.
Adesina also said that the project, which is aimed at realizing power, is designed to serve 250 million people in the targeted countries.
He explained that AfDB will soon move to Northern Nigeria, where the project is expected to be the catalyst of other developmental projects in parts of the West African sub-region.
“The bank, under its Light-up and Power Africa project wants to partner Northern states of Nigeria, particularly Sokoto, which will benefit from a 55 megawatts solar photovoltaic project for power generation,” AfDB president said.
Tambuwal expressed gratitude to Dr Adesina for the projects, adding that the visit was in line with the policy thrust of his administration to improve the economic gains of the state’s citizenry.
On the governor’s entourage were Commissioners of Animal Health, Prof. Abdulkadir Junaidu; Higher Education Prof. Bashir Garba; Health, Dr. Muhammad Inname and that of Finance, Abdussamad Dasuki.
