July 25, 2014
Ambassador James F. Entwistle and Power Minister Prof Nebo sign MOU on power, July 24. Photo by Idika Onyukwu
(L-R), Senior Vice President Peter Nwangwu, and Rod Johnson, President Global Edison sign MOU with and Prof Nebo on power reform. Photo by Idika Onyukwu
Power Africa, an initiative of President Barack Obama designed to significantly increase the amount of electricity available in sub-Saharan Africa, received a major boost yesterday with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the governments of the United States and Nigeria. U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria James F. Entwistle and the Minister of Power Professor Chinedu Nebo signed the agreement.
The MOU outlines the parts both the U.S. Government and the Government of Nigeria will play working together to increase access to and availability of electricity in Nigeria.
Also as part of the agreement, U.S. company, Global Edison, led by its President Rod Johnson and the company’s senior Vice President Peter Nwangwu, signed an MOU with the Minister of power Professor Nebo as part of the Power Africa initiative.
Earlier in his remarks, Ambassador Entwistle said Nigeria is well-positioned to reap the rewards from the increased focus on the energy sector. He stated that: “It is our expectation that our joint effort will improve the lives of countless Nigerians and serve as a role model for other African countries whose implementation of energy sector reform is nascent.”
Power Africa is expected to build on Africa’s enormous power potential, including new discoveries of vast reserves of oil and gas, and the potential to develop clean geothermal, hydro, wind and solar energy.
Present at the ceremony were the ministry of power’s permanent secretary Ambassador Godknows Ighalli, USAID Mission Director Michael T. Harvey, the managing director/chief executive officer of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company of Nigeria, James Olotu, and other senior government officials.
The Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Energy, the Department of the Treasury, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. African Development Foundation, the Department of Commerce, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are providing the tools needed to strengthen Africa’s power sector and its economic growth and development.
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