L-R:
Former president of Ghana John Kufuor; President of Cote D'Ivoire
Alassane Ouattara, Co-Chair of the Africa Energy Leaders Group (AELG);
Tony O. Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Co-Chair of the AELG;
Vice President of Nigeria Yemi Osinbajo during the inaugural meeting of
the AELG held in Abidjan yesterday to discuss regional solutions to the
electricity deficit in Africa.
L-R:
Former presidents of Nigeria and Ghana Olusegun Obasanjo; John Kufuor;
President of Cote D'Ivoire Alassane Ouattara, Co-Chair of the Africa
Energy Leaders Group (AELG); Tony O. Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings
and Co-Chair of the AELG); Vice President of Nigeria Yemi Osinbajo
during the inaugural meeting of the AELG held in Abidjan yesterday to
discuss regional solutions to the electricity deficit in Africa.
Energy
For ALL: l-r. Vice President of Nigeria Yemi Osinbajo and Tony O.
Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Co-Chair of the Africa Energy
Leaders Group (AELG) during the inaugural meeting of the AELG held in
Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire to discuss regional solutions to addressing the
electricity deficit in Africa
Energy
For ALL: l-r. Vice President of Nigeria Yemi Osinbajo and Tony O.
Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Co-Chair of the Africa Energy
Leaders Group (AELG) during the inaugural meeting of the AELG held in
Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire to discuss regional solutions to addressing the
electricity deficit in Africa.
L-R:
Co-Chair of the Africa Energy Leaders Group (AELG) and Chairman Heirs
Holdings, Tony Elumelu, Former presidents of Nigeria and Ghana Olusegun
Obasanjo; John Kufuor; President of Cote D'Ivoire Alassane Ouattara,
Co-Chair of the AELG; Vice President of Nigeria Yemi Osinbajo and other
African leaders during the inaugural meeting of the AELG held in Abidjan
yesterday to discuss regional solutions to the electricity deficit in
Africa.
“Providing
access to electricity for schools, hospitals, businesses and industries
is the single most impactful intervention that can be made to transform
the continent. It has tremendous implications for job creation,
health, food security, education, technological advancement and overall
economic development.” Mr. Tony Elumelu said today in Abidjan.
African
businessman and philanthropist Tony Elumelu who is the Chairman of
Heirs Holdings and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation joined African
economic and political leaders today in Abidjan to call for an end to
energy poverty on the continent. The leaders came together in Abidjan
under the umbrella of the African Energy Leaders Group (AELG).
The
AELG was launched during the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland. The group brings together political and business leaders at
the highest level to drive the reforms and investment needed to end
energy poverty and to ensure sustainable fuel supplies on the continent.
Mr. Elumelu is
a founding partner and Co-chair of the AELG. Other founding partners of
AELG include Ivoirian President Allasane Ouattara; Ghanaian President
John Mahama; President, African Development Bank
Dr Donald Kaberuka; President & CEO, The Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; President ECOWAS Commission, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo; and President UEMOA Cheikhe Hadjibou Soumare.
Providing
access for all Africans to reliable, affordable energy services and
efficient appliances by 2030 is a key goal of AELG. The AELG objective
of ensuring universal access to modern energy is in line with those of
the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative run by
the UN Secretary General's Special Representative Kandeh Yumkella, one
of the champions of the AELG. Mr. Elumelu pledged to support the work of
AELG.
“I
am making a pledge to provide $150,000 over the next three years to
support the operations of the AELG secretariat,” he said. “I want to
call on the governments of the member states of the ECOWAS region, and
AELG members and partners to also step up with significant multi-year
commitments to sustain the organization.” Following Mr Elumelu's lead,
pop superstar, Akon, who was also in attendance at the event to
promote his Lighting Africa Initiative, pledged $200,000 to support the
work of the AELG secretariat.
On the closing panel for the AELG meeting where Elumelu was joined by Akon, former presidents Obasanjo and Kufuor,
Vice President Osinbajo, and the Prime Ministers of Cote D'Ivoire,
Mali, Benin, Togo, and Niger, he challenged the public sector leaders to
follow the lessons learned from the democratization of the telecoms
sector to unlock growth in the power sector.
In
2013, Tony Elumelu committed to investing $2.5 billion in the power
sector in Africa through President Obama's Power Africa Initiative.
Transcorp Plc, Chaired by Elumelu, acquired the largest gas powered
generating plant in Nigeria, located in Ughelli, Delta State in late
2013. By the end of this year, the Transcorp Ughelli plant will be generating 1,000 MW and the company is in discussions with GE to add an additional 1,000 MW soon after.
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