Weert Borner, the German Consul General to Nigeria, reaffirmed Germany’s commitment to collaborating with Nigeria on renewable energy transition.
He made this statement during a seminar hosted by the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Lagos State University, LASU, on Wednesday.
The seminar, titled “Africa-Europe Roundtable on Renewable Energy,” highlighted the significance of Nigeria developing and transitioning to renewable energy. Mr. Borner emphasized that adopting renewable energy is crucial for enhancing the country’s energy grid and represents a sustainable business model.
“It will also save greenhouse gas emissions.
“Germany is in a unique position to drive forward the transformation of the energy system in Europe.
“We are driving forward the energy transition. Wind energy and PV systems with a capacity of 17.5GW were newly commissioned.
“Almost 10,100km of grid were installed in the past six years, and in 2023, 1.23 million electric vehicles were already driving on Germany’s streets,” Mr Borner said.
He added that Germany worked with a growing number of countries to support global energy transition.
“Renewable electricity is cheaper than conventional, and our electricity supply security remains one of the highest worldwide.
“The energy transition is the guarantor of a secure, climate-neutral, economically-successful future and reduces our dependence on fossil fuel import.
“Also, renewable energy expansion creates jobs, stimulates investments and creates economic growth. There is massive evidence for such expansion in Germany,” Mr Borner said.
Chibeze Ezekiel, coordinator of Strategic Youth Network for Development, called for support from European countries to equip African youth leaders with capacities and platforms to engage in actions to improve climate resilience and energy access.
Mr Ezekiel, also the chair of Youth, Natural Resource and Environmental Governance platform, said that coal was cheap.
“Another advantage of renewable energy is that it promises more jobs for young people.
“Youth environmentalists can be supported with grants and technical support,” he said.
Outi Luova, lecturer at the University of Turku, Finland, said that universities could aim to reach environmental sustainability champions worldwide and offer them support on how to promote sustainability on campuses.
“We need to jointly organise interactive online courses and approach sustainability issues from a practical perspective through case studies,” she said.
Dr Tobi Oshodi, lecturer at the Department of Political Science of LASU, said that Africa must design deliberate and measurable strategies to localise its technology for tapping into renewable energy resources.
“It means that while European and Chinese technologies are increasingly becoming available in Africa, conscious efforts must be made to domesticate local technologies.
“Africa is endowed with enormous capacity for renewable energy.
“We have sunlight, water and wind that are not only sufficient for our industrialisation but huge enough to be shared with others.
“For instance, we have the natural resources to produce batteries to power solar panels and electric vehicles,” he said.
