Sokoto state is to benefit from the African Development Bank (AfDB) $20 billion DESERT TO POWER initiative, which aims to bring power to 250million people across the Sahel region through the deployment of solar technology.
The initiative would harness the vast solar power potential across the Sahel region to provide access to electricity, AfDB President Dr Akinwunmi Adesina revealed.
He stated this when he received the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and some commissioners at AfDB headquarters in Abidjan.
Adesina added that the project intended to provide on-grid and off-grid power to parts of sub-Saharan Africa would enable socio-economic development and resilience in the region.
He explained that under the LIGHT-UP AND POWER AFRICA project, the bank would partner with Northern states of Nigeria, particularly Sokoto, which will benefit from a 55 megawatts solar photovoltaic project power generation.
The AfDB President listed countries the DtP project was already covering, including Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali.
Gov. Tambuwal expressed the state government’s commitment to boost the state’s socio-economic development.