Morocco and Nigeria Collaborating on Solar Energy Installations

The Government of Morocco is collaborating with Nigeria’s federal government and Jigawa state government on the implementation of solar energy projects to increase energy availability in Nigeria’s northwest zone and other parts of the country.

The Commissioner for Land, Housing, and Urban and Regional Planning for Jigawa State, Sagir Musa Ahmed, has unveiled plans concerning this collaboration. The commissioner made the statement at the Jigawa State Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists Media Engagement Forum, held at the Manpower Development Institute in Dutse. Ahmed declared that around 200,000 hectares of land in Jigawa State’s Gwiwa Local Council will be allocated for hosting the planned project.

“What we are focusing on now is how to project our advancement in the next 10 years under a successful and efficient land administration system.”

“Our plan was to have robust town planning initiatives in our five Emirate Councils in the future to look at more developed modern cities in the near future,” Ahmed commented.

The solar energy project is an initiative of the Moroccan government to improve electricity supplies in Nigeria. The ambitious future project is seeking to supply and improve electricity generation particularly in Zamfara, Jigawa, Katsina, and Yobe states in Nigeria.

Ahmed recognized the significance of these kinds of collaboration in the solar energy project development and highlighted Nigeria’s commitment to participate in such cooperation. Morocco-Nigeria cooperation illustrates the kind of mutual benefits which Nigeria’s Minister of Science, Ogbonnaya Onu, named “intra-Africa cooperation.” The main goal of intra-African cooperation is utilizing Africa’s abundant natural resources, which can be realized through projects such as solar energy collaborations. 

In October, Morocco and Nigeria signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the R&D of biotechnological products and processes, including the manufacturing of bio-fertilizer. Morocco and Nigeria are working together to boost cooperation in the field of science, technology, and innovation (STI). Both countries are looking forward to taking full advantage of their abundant natural resources to increase employment and GDP, utilizing STI.