Nigeria’s quest for a successful transition to green energy is gradually gaining momentum as she expands negotiations with critical stakeholders to lure them into investing in that sector.
The latest move was the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, Chief Ajuri Ngelale’s engagement with the Secretary-General of the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum, IEF, Mr. Joseph McMonigle, during which they explored new collaboration concerning Nigeria’s drive for blue hydrogen investment and development.
He also met with the Managing Director of the Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, Mr. Tony Okpanachi and his talented team and had a discussion on how best to access the Green Climate Fund, GCF, and the need to partner in advancing the priority areas of President Bola Tinubu’s Green Industrial Growth Acceleration Programme.
The meeting was followed by a discussion with lead climate negotiators representing 119 other countries in a United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, virtual meeting on the just transition.
Chief Ngelale also *Later in hosted the Country Director of the French Development Agency, AFD, Mr. Xavier Muron and his team, alongside the National Council on Climate Change, NCCC, leadership, at which they deliberated on the various pathways to economically-beneficial decarbonisation in the context of maximising Nigeria’s natural resources to fund the energy transition.
This was followed by his virtual engagement with a team from the Canada-based Alberta Carbon Market Collaboration where they exchanged views, including the leadership of the NCCC, on Nigeria’s value chain localisation agenda and the evolution of a carbon market ecosystem that will favour the Nigerian economy and citizenry.
The Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action subsequently held a high-level virtual discussion with leaders from the NDC Partnerships Group, where they followed up on Nigeria’s update to the NDC framework, which they deliberated fruitfully on converting the aspirational NDC framework into a business-tailored, project-driven plan that details in specificity the bankability of critical projects across the nation.
