Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun
yesterday described as hypocritical efforts by
the western government to stop Nigeria from
using coal-fired power to power their
industries when infact it is the same coal-
fired power system that has helped countries
like Britain achieve the kind of
industrialization it has now.
Speaking at the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) discourse on infrastructure in Africa at
the George Washington University USA,
Adeosun frowned at the recent blockage of a
coal project to Nigeria by some Western
powers.
yesterday described as hypocritical efforts by
the western government to stop Nigeria from
using coal-fired power to power their
industries when infact it is the same coal-
fired power system that has helped countries
like Britain achieve the kind of
industrialization it has now.
Speaking at the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) discourse on infrastructure in Africa at
the George Washington University USA,
Adeosun frowned at the recent blockage of a
coal project to Nigeria by some Western
powers.
The case, if you look at the numbers
of business cases in Africa, is quite a
huge one. Yes, we do need
macroeconomic stability. We also do
need consistency of policies by the
multilateral institutions and western
countries. Let me give you an
example. In Nigeria, we have coal and
it doesn’t take a genius to work out
what it will take to get coal-fired
power. Yet, we are being blocked. I
think there is some hypocrisy in that.
We have an entire western
industrialization that was built on
coal-fired energy and that is the
competitive advantage that has been
used to develop Britain, where I grew
up. Now, Africa wants to do it and
they saying it’s not green, we can’t do
and that we should go and do solar,
wind, which are the most expensive
power projects. The West cannot say
that after polluting the atmosphere for
100 years, and when Africa wants to
explore its resources, they say no. If
we want to stop coal, those who
started it over 200 years ago, should
first stop using coal before telling us
to stop”she said
of business cases in Africa, is quite a
huge one. Yes, we do need
macroeconomic stability. We also do
need consistency of policies by the
multilateral institutions and western
countries. Let me give you an
example. In Nigeria, we have coal and
it doesn’t take a genius to work out
what it will take to get coal-fired
power. Yet, we are being blocked. I
think there is some hypocrisy in that.
We have an entire western
industrialization that was built on
coal-fired energy and that is the
competitive advantage that has been
used to develop Britain, where I grew
up. Now, Africa wants to do it and
they saying it’s not green, we can’t do
and that we should go and do solar,
wind, which are the most expensive
power projects. The West cannot say
that after polluting the atmosphere for
100 years, and when Africa wants to
explore its resources, they say no. If
we want to stop coal, those who
started it over 200 years ago, should
first stop using coal before telling us
to stop”she said
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