By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
The German government says that it will continue to cooperate with Nigeria for renewable energy development through innovative technologies and various industry partnerships as part of its contribution to improve Nigeria’s energy supply.
The new Consul General of Germany in Lagos, Dr Stefan Traumann, made this known to our correspondent, in a media chat at the German embassy in Lagos.
According to the Consul General, the German government will continue to cooperate with Nigeria, more especially under the framework of the Nigerian-German Energy Partnership (NGEP) which was signed on the 19th August 2008. From the Nigerian side, the partnership falls within the ambit of the Ministry of Power and the National Energy Council and both governments discuss topics related to the NGEP on the bi-national working group on energy.
He said that the idea behind the NGEP is the complementarity of interests and potentials of both Nigeria and Germany. Germany improves Nigeria’s energy supply through know-how and innovative technologies, especially in the field of renewables and energy efficiency. In return, Nigeria contributes to Germany’s energy supply which is known to be the oil and gas industry.
He further explained that the dynamic development in the areas of electricity, oil and gas offers interesting business opportunities for German investors of which some of the completed projects under NGEP includes; Azura power plant powered by Siemens and Julius Berger, Geregu II power plant, which increased Nigeria’s energy supply by 10%.
He also highlighted that in some Nigerian universities such as UI, UNICAL, there have been installation of solar power as part of the ongoing cooperation projects under the NGEP.
Other measures taken by German government, according to him, is the project implemented by GIZ called “Nigerian Energy Support Programme” closely coordinates with the activities of the NGEP.
He emphasized that the programme is aimed at ensuring better access to reliable and sustainable energy, build upon an initial five year phase from 2013 – 2018, during which it supported activities geared towards the improvement of access to and investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
He also said that the second part of the programme, NESP II, implements a multi-level approach by combining advisory on energy policy/economy and technical knowledge for a wide range of stakeholders.
In his final words, the Consul General said the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce (AHK) here in Lagos has been an essential partner in promoting bilateral trade and in particular in organizing events, market exploration trips, seminars in order to bring German investors to the Nigerian energy sector.
About 90 German companies are present in Nigeria. Trade volume in 2017 reached 2.53 billion Euros. In 2016, the amount of German FDI in Nigeria was 183 million EUR, compared to 140 million EUR in 2015.