Nigeria’s minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, has said it is hypocritical for west and multilateral institutions to tell Nigeria not to use coal-fired power, which drove western industrialisation.
Adeosun, who spoke at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discourse on infrastructure in Africa, recalled that western powers recently blocked a coal to power project in Nigeria.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
Adeosun, who spoke at Jack Morton Auditorium, George Washington University, Washington, said there must be a level playing field in conversations around infrastructure.
“The west cannot say after polluting the atmosphere for 100 years, and when Africa wants to explore its resources, they say no.
“Yes, we would come up with bankable projects and we would behave ourselves, but I think we also need to be firm.
“If we want to stop coal, those who started it over 200 years ago, should first stop using coal before telling us to stop. This is because by doing so, you are only pushing us to the cycle of underdevelopment.”
