*Pact will transform agricultural productivity, improve wellbeing of rural communities, says VP Shettima
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has applauded the collaboration among the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) programme aimed at boosting the provision of affordable energy in the centres scattered across the country.
He particularly commended the commitment and resourcefulness of the REA management, saying the SAPZ programme, if fully operationalized, has the potential of transforming agricultural productivity across the country and improving the wellbeing of rural communities.
Senator Shettima stated this on Monday in Abuja during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between REA and SAPZ for the provision of affordable energy in all the SAPZ sites across the country.
The agreement covers joint assessment, technical assistance, and energy deployment across the SAPZ sites under REA’s Desert To Power (DTP) progamme.
The Vice President, who was represented at the ceremony by the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) to the President, Sen. Ibrahim Hadejia, said the Federal Government welcomes the partnership and will encourage more collaborations that will help unlock the country’s potentials across all sectors but particularly in the agricultural sector.
Earlier, the Minister of Agriculture, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the collaboration with the African Development Bank and the Federal Ministry of Power through the REA was commendable and was the beginning of greater achievements in the agricultural sector given the potentials for growth.
He expressed optimism that the SAPZ, when fully operationalized, will address numerous challenges confronting farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
He noted that beyond bridging the infrastructure gap in the agric sector, the programme is designed to improve the livelihoods of farmers and people in rural communities in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda.
For his part, the Permanent Secretary in Ministry of Power, Alhaji Mahmuda Mamman, pledged the ministry’s dedication to the actualization of government’s aspirations in the power sector, stating the ministry’s full commitment to objectives of the collaboration between the REA and SAPZ.
In his presentation of REA’s project portfolio across different sectors, the Managing Director of the agency, Engr. Abba Aliyu, said the organisation has a proven track record of delivering on game-changing projects with 424 completed mini-grid electrification projects and 693 others ongoing across the country.
He said the targeted impact of the proposed partnership under the SAPZ programme is 25,000 households, 13 health facilities and directly impacting over 103,000 persons in each designated area.
In his remarks, the National Programme Coordinator of the SAPZ, Dr Kabir Yusuf, said the proposed partnership with the REA will address energy supply, which is one of the most critical challenges confronting the successful implementation of the programme across the country.
He expressed optimism that the deployment of mini-grids through the proposed initiative led by the REA, the economies of the production centres will improve, while adjourning communities in the SAPZ sites across the country will enjoy more sustainable power supply.
The highpoint of the occasion was the signing of the MoU for the electrification of the SAPZ sites under the Nigeria Desert To Power initiative by the representatives of the two implementing agencies.
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