The Chief Executive Officer and Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All, Damilola Ogunbiyi, and the recently appointed President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, have expressed their support for private sector investments in renewable energy.
According to The PUNCH, they disclosed this in a statement on Friday during a meeting held with private sector leaders in Abuja.
Ogunbiyi said, “Renewable energy solutions hold the key to a sustainable future, and I am pleased that the World Bank, through Ajay Banga’s leadership, is focused on scaling transition finance in renewable energy and infrastructure in the Global South while addressing the barriers preventing private sector investment in emerging markets.
“At SEforALL, we are ready to provide expertise and support towards catalysing private capital to close energy access gaps and achieve a clean energy transition.”
Also speaking at the event, Banga said, “This visit to Abuja, which is the first for me, is a clear, tangible step towards realising the mandate of the World Bank’s new Private Sector Investment Laboratory, which was announced in June this year.
“The lab was created to identify and focus on specific approaches that can be implemented and scaled by the World Bank to mobilise capital more effectively, with the goal of crowding in greater levels of private finance.”
According to the statement, Ogunbiyi, Banga, and the investors accompanied by the Managing Director of the Nigeria Rural Electrification Agency, Ahmad Salihijo, also visited innovative clean energy projects near the city of Abuja to showcase progress made and the chance to replicate these across the country.
Recall that, on Friday, a delegation from the World Bank visited President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Villa.
