The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it has started a $25 billion solar power project to provide electricity to no fewer than 250 million people.
President of the Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, announced this in an address delivered to the Class of 2023 at Calvin University, Michigan, USA.
Adesina titled the address “Be God’s Instrument of Change Commencement”.
He enjoined the world not to stop at anything to fight global warming.
The AfDB boss told the Class that the bank had executed many far-reaching, life-touching projects, which had brought about positive change to humanity.
“Today, we are building what we call the Desert to Power initiative, a $25 billion investment to harness the power of the sun and deliver electricity for 250 million people.
“When completed it will be the largest solar zone in the world,” he said.
Adesina enjoined members of the 2023 class to utilise their education to confront the aggression of climate change and global warming.
Climate change and global warming, he said, had made the world a more dangerous place to live.
“You are ready and the world awaits you!
“A world that faces new challenges, many of them happening simultaneously.
“At the top of this is climate change, which poses an existential risk for the world.
“We must do all we can to keep global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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“We need innovations to power the world better with renewable energy and we must do all to feed the world.
“It is not acceptable that over 2.3 billion people in the world go hungry. God did not create stomachs to go empty. There must be a hunger-free world.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us the importance of global pandemic preparedness and unhindered access to affordable health care.
Earlier, the AfDB boss had recounted his travails when he came to the USA for studies in 1983.
“I never knew I would one day head an organisation, which controlled about $208 billion.”
He called on the Class 2023 of the institution to also see themselves as being already prepared for the job of influencing the world positively.
“I arrived in America in 1983 with only $750. My scholarship from my home country was not paid.
“I was stuck in America and I had to survive on $750 for six months.
“Many years after, I went on to win the World Food Prize – known as the ‘Nobel Prize for Agriculture’.
“These encounters and experiences have helped define who I am and my approach to life … serving humanity and making a difference.
“At the African Development Bank, I see my role as delivering hope for millions of people.
“In the past seven years, our work has impacted the lives of 350 million people,” Adesina said.
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