THE federal government plans to achieve 10 Gigawatts of electricity operational capacity by the year 2020. Udoma Udo Udoma, minister of budget and national planning, said the federal government had also planned to improve the power sector through the renewable energy sources.

Udoma said this in a keynote address at the second Kano Economic and Investment Summit in Kano, on Tuesday.

The summit is part of activities planned by Kano State Government to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the state.

According to him, the government is committed to reviving the manufacturing sector, to achieve an annual growth of 8.5 percent to meet 10.6 percent growth rate by 2020. “We also intend to achieve self-sufficiency in petroleum products during the period. We also want to be exporter of some key agricultural products such as rice, groundnut, cassava and vegetable oil, among others.”

He said the federal government intended to create no fewer than 15 million jobs for the unemployed persons in the country as part of efforts to fight poverty, particularly among the youth. He said based on the plan, 3.7 million jobs would be created annually to address the unemployment challenges in the country. “If you get people out of poverty, you must provide them with jobs, hence our commitment to provide jobs,” he said.

He disclosed that the federal government had set aside a certain amount of money in this year’s budget to provide infrastructure for the revival of the free trade zone in Kano. He said this would give exporters in Kano the opportunity to take advantage of the funds. The minister, who commended Kano State Government for initiating the summit, said the Federal Government would continue to support such giant strides aimed at promoting economic growth in the country.

“Federal Government is encouraged by the effort of many states for the progress they are making in agricultural sector of the economy. I am confident the summit will promote investment opportunities in the state and the country at large,” he said.

As of December 2013, the total installed or nameplate capacity (maximum capacity) of the power plants was 6,953 MW. Available capacity was 4,598 MW. Actual average generation was 3,800 MW. As of December 2014, the total installed capacity of the power plants was 7,445 MW. Available capacity was 4,949 MW. Actual average generation was less than 3,900 MW.

—  Jun 5, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT