Abubakar Aliyu, the Minister of Electricity, said the Federal Authorities will look into areas where they can work with Egypt’s government to improve the country’s power supply.
When the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Nigeria, Ihab Awad, visited him in Abuja on Tuesday, Aliyu stated this.
“I am aware of the meeting you had with my predecessor, which led to a draft Memorandum of Understanding that was sent to us from the Ministry of Foreign affairs.
“And, the invitation extended to us by your government to visit Egypt.
“Your visit now is giving us an opportunity to re-energize this collaboration. You have mentioned how you have succeeded in solving the problem of power in Egypt.
“Which is a very interesting development because as an ambassador to Nigeria you have been here for some time, you are aware how we are facing this issue in this country,” Aliyu remarked.
Aliyu stated that the Federal Government would renew bilateral cooperation and provide an answer on when a delegation from the Ministry of Power may visit Egypt.
He stated that the ministry would meet and form a committee to come up with critical issues and areas in which the Federal Government can work with Egypt’s government.
According to him, the group would also look into scheduling a visit to Egypt by a delegation from the ministry.
“You talked about the discussion which President Muhammadu Buhari had with Egypt President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, this is very important and that will help us.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is very concerned with the issue of power so will not relent. We will meet to ensure you get some feedback from us,” the minister stated.
Previously, Awad informed the minister that he visited the ministry in April or May, where the two governments met to discuss a partnership in the area of electricity generation between Nigeria and Egypt.
He stated that the collaboration was widely addressed, with a particular focus on the potential and prospects for collaboration between the two countries in the area of electricity generation.
He said, “We also concluded that an MoU could provide the political, leading framework so that collaboration could be developed.
“On the basis of that, the invitation was extended to your predecessor on leading a high power delegation from the ministry of power to visit Egypt to discuss and examine the specific areas of collaboration that we addressed during the consultation
“During my former visit to the ministry, we also came to a common understanding that there was a need for collaboration between your government and our country in the area of revitalizing and renewing the power generation.
“Power grid and distribution system drawing point from the discussion that took place between President Muhammadu Buhari and President of Egypt, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi in 2019 during Nigeria’s President visit to Egypt.”
Awad stated that renewable energy is the way of the future and that during the meeting, they discussed the possibility of sharing the solar energy-producing experience.
(NAN)
