Tanko Mohammed
President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the Ministry of Power to collaborate with the Egyptian government on the effective implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative.
The Presidential Power initiative is known as the Siemens Project.
Mr Aaron Artimas, Special Adviser, Media and Communication to the Minister of Power, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Monday, saying that the Minister, Mr Sale Mamman, disclosed this while receiving the Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Ihab Awad, in his office.
The minister said President Buhari had intimated him that Egypt had successfully rehabilitated and restored its power sector through its collaboration with Siemens.
“The President had reasoned that obtaining more information from Egypt will enable Nigeria to maximise our agreement with Siemens, towards the total overhaul of our power grid and distribution systems,” he said.
Describing the visit of the Egyptian Ambassador as timely, Mamman assured that the ministry would leverage on this development, not only concerning the Siemens Project, but will also collaborate with Egypt on renewable energy which is highly needed to supplement the national grid.
The minister accepted the Ambassador’s invitation to visit Egypt for a better understanding of the Egyptian power sector and the deepening of collaboration in the other sectors within the Power value chain.
Earlier, the Ambassador Awad revealed that since his assumption of duty in Nigeria, he had been visiting some key ministries in pursuit of areas of mutual collaboration.
He said that Egypt has a lot of experience and technical knowledge in the power sector to provide support to Nigeria in the rehabilitation of its transmission and distribution sectors.
Awad called for the restoration of the Egyptian-Nigerian joint commission, saying that he hopes to have the first resumed session before the end of this year.
