\u2014 \u201cProviding access to electricity for schools, hospitals, businesses and
\nindustries is the single most impactful intervention that can be made to
\ntransform the continent.\u00a0 It has tremendous implications for job creation,
\nhealth, food security, education, technological advancement and overall
\neconomic development.\u201d\u00a0 Mr. Tony Elumelu said today in Abidjan.<\/p>\n
African businessman and philanthropist Tony Elumelu who is the Chairman of
\nHeirs Holdings and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation joined African
\neconomic and political leaders today in Abidjan to call for an end to
\nenergy poverty on the continent. The leaders came together in Abidjan
\nunder the umbrella of the African Energy Leaders Group (AELG).<\/p>\n
The AELG was launched during the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos,
\nSwitzerland. The group brings together political and business leaders at
\nthe highest level to drive the reforms and investment needed to end energy
\npoverty and to ensure sustainable fuel supplies on the continent.<\/p>\n
Mr. Elumelu is a founding partner and Co-chair of the AELG. Other founding
\npartners of AELG include Ivoirian President Allasane Ouattara; Ghanaian
\nPresident John Mahama; President, African Development Bank Dr Donald
\nKaberuka; President & CEO, The Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote;
\nPresident ECOWAS Commission, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo; and President UEMOA
\nCheikhe Hadjibou Soumare.<\/p>\n
Providing access for all Africans to reliable, affordable energy services
\nand efficient appliances by 2030 is a key goal of AELG. The AELG objective
\nof ensuring universal access to modern energy is in line with those of the
\nUnited Nations Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative run by the
\nUN Secretary General’s Special Representative Kandeh Yumkella, one of the
\nchampions of the AELG. Mr. Elumelu pledged to support the work of AELG.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am making a pledge to provide $150,000 over the next three years to
\nsupport the operations of the AELG secretariat,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI want to call
\non the governments of the member states of the ECOWAS region, and AELG
\nmembers and partners to also step up with significant multi-year
\ncommitments to sustain the organization.\u201d Following Mr Elumelu’s lead, pop
\nsuperstar, Akon, who was also in attendance at the event to promote his
\nLighting Africa Initiative, pledged $200,000 to support the work of the
\nAELG secretariat.<\/p>\n
On the closing panel for the AELG meeting where Elumelu was joined by
\nAkon, former presidents Obasanjo and Kufuor, Vice President Osinbajo, and
\nthe Prime Ministers of Cote D’Ivoire, Mali, Benin, Togo, and Niger, he
\nchallenged the public sector leaders to follow the lessons learned from
\nthe democratization of the telecoms sector to unlock growth in the power
\nsector.<\/p>\n
In 2013, Tony Elumelu committed to investing $2.5 billion in the power
\nsector in Africa through President Obama’s Power Africa Initiative.
\nTranscorp Plc, Chaired by Elumelu, acquired the largest gas powered
\ngenerating plant in Nigeria, located in Ughelli, Delta State in late 2013.
\nBy the end of this year, the Transcorp Ughelli plant will be generating
\n1,000 MW and the company is in discussions with GE to add an additional
\n1,000 MW soon after.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2014 \u201cProviding access to electricity for schools, hospitals, businesses and industries is the single most impactful intervention that can be made to transform the continent.\u00a0 It has tremendous implications for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n