Nigeria President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday evening returned to Abuja after a six-day official visit to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he participated in the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) and some other engagements by the summit sidelines.
The President, who departed Abuja last Wednesday, arrived the presidential wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at about 6:45pm.
While in Dubai, the President, last Friday, witnessed the signing of an accelerated performance agreement aimed at expediting the implementation of the 12,000 megawatts Presidential Power Initiative (PPI), to improve electricity supply in Nigeria.
On Saturday, he joined a panel on African Green Industrialization, which was organised by the CoP28 Presidency and the President of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, telling global leaders that risk management is vital for Africa’s full and swift transition to cleaner energy.
Earlier same Saturday, while speaking at a high-level meeting with stakeholders and investors on the Nigeria Carbon Market and Electric Buses Rollout Programme, President Tinubu said Nigeria is taking a significant step towards a sustainable and eco-friendly future by introducing a pioneering initiative to deploy a fleet of 100 electric buses.
Highlighting some of the investment and partnership opportunities, as well as benefits accruing to the country from the CoP28 in a statement on Monday, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, listed some of the earlier mentioned positives.
According to him: “Nigeria and Germany signed an accelerated performance agreement to expedite the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) to improve Nigeria’s electricity supply. The agreement was signed by Mr. Kenny Anuwe, the Managing Director and CEO of FGN Power Company, and Ms. Nadja Haakansson, Siemens Energy’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, at a ceremony witnessed by President Tinubu and Chancellor Scholz.
“President Tinubu hosted a high-level meeting with stakeholders and investors on the Nigeria Carbon Market and the Electric Buses Rollout Programme on the margins of the COP28 climate summit.
“The President unveiled the Nigeria Carbon Market Activation Plan, co-chaired by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, and the Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Dr. Dahiru Salisu.
“The Electric Buses program is only the first step in a series of innovative, clean, modern, and sustainable initiatives across diverse sectors, all aimed at simultaneously addressing climate change-related challenges, reducing carbon footprint, modernizing infrastructure systems, and positioning Nigeria as an attractive destination for global investments.
“Nigeria stands to benefit from the Loss and Damage Fund established during COP-27 in Egypt and formally operationalized at the opening plenary of COP-28 in Dubai. The Fund will provide substantial non-debt financing to support countries most affected by the impact of climate change. Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been pledged as contributions to the Fund.
“The President also met the President of UAE to concretize engagements between the two countries. This is aside from the bilateral talks held with several countries and multilateral partners”.
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
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