OpeOluwani Akintayo
31 October 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — The Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri, has applauded the Swedish government for showing interest in collaborating with Nigeria to improve power supply in the country.
Baba Shehuri made the commendation when he received representatives of the Swedish ambassador to Nigeria, Mrs. Inger Ultvedt, Charge d’ affaires of the Swedish Embassy, Mrs. Ida Hockerfeldt, and Head of Economic Affairs, Mrs. Fanny Nylander, in his office in Abuja.
The minister stated that it made economic sense for any foreign country to invest in Nigeria with the privatisation of the generation and distribution aspects of electric power supply.
He stated: “We have the population and a lot of potentials in the areas of renewable energy which some investors like the Chinese have already keyed into by providing mini-grids to generate and supply electric power to some communities”.
The Head of Economic Affairs of the Swedish Embassy in Nigeria, Mrs. Fanny Nylander, had earlier explained that the meeting was a follow-up to the Swedish Minister for Trade, Mrs Ann Linda’s, visit to the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, in 2016, and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with Nigeria under the Nordic Umbrella on Energy.
Mrs. Nylander further invited the Minister to be the “Country Host” to the ‘Swedish – Nigerian Sustainable Energy Conference’ holding in Lagos on November 13, 2018, adding that the event is to create an avenue for Swedish companies to explore ways of supporting Africa, particularly Nigeria, in power generation, transmission and distribution.
