Now that Biden’s victory has been confirmed Buhari should give him a call and ask that Nigeria be made the centrepiece of American clean energy and climate control policy

Ayo Akinfe

(1) Yesterday, the curtail fell on the Trump presidency as America’s state electors confirmed the outcome of the November 3 elections. Despite the fact that President Donald Trump still holds on to the illusion that he can stay in office, President-elect Joe Biden is not being distracted and is getting on with the job at hand. I like the fact that climate control is back at the heart of US foreign policy and for me, it is an area where Nigeria can make a killing

(2) President-elect Biden has said the US will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord immediately. For its plans of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 to succeed, industrial production has to be moved from polluting countries like the US, China, India, The UK, etc to developing nations like Nigeria. President Buhari should be using the opportunity to sell Nigeria as the choice destination for green investment

(3) President-elect Biden said that within 100 days of being sworn-in, he will convene a world climate summit to engage the leaders of the major carbon-emitting nations of the world. I want to see President Muhammadu Buhari take that conference by storm, presenting an unprecedented industrial programme that will make the Marshall Plan look like child’s play

(4) Under a President Biden, industrial nations will agree enforceable commitments that will reduce emissions in global shipping and aviation. In practice, this basically means they have to cut their number or shipyards and aircraft maintenance facilities and move them to greenfield locations like Nigeria where there is almost no industrial pollution. President Buhari should take the lead on this

(5) Our 853km Atlantic coastline in Nigeria is crying out for shipyards, about five deep sea ports and an aircraft maintenance facility. I want to see President Buhari sell an ambitious industrial plan to the rest of the world. He message to operators in this sector should be simple - Come to Nigeria

(6) One area where President Biden will have a major diplomatic headache will be in pressuring China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon, to stop subsidising coal exports and outsourcing their pollution to other countries by financing dirty fossil-fuel energy projects through their Belt and Road Initiative. President Buhari can help the US here by offering Chinese companies a five year tax holiday if they invest in clean energy in Nigeria

(7) Were I in President Buhari’s shoes, I would offer a 99 year land lease and a five year tax holiday to any company that builds a wind farm along Nigeria’s 853km Atlantic coastline

(8) A similar offer will go to anyone who builds a massive solar farm in Nigeria. For instance, the Kamuthi solar farm in Tamil Nadu State in India covers 10 square kilometres and has a capacity of 648MW. China’s Longyangxia Dam Solar Park is spread over more than 25 square kilometres. President Buhari should offer 100 square kilometres across say five states that will generate say 7,000MW

(9) Any shipyard that relocates to the Niger Delta should be granted an “Africa First” status, meaning that they will be the first point of call for any African nation wanting to purchase vessels

(10) For me, President Buhari’s goals should include boosting clean energy production by say 20,000MW, attracting about $50bn worth of investment into the clean energy, shipping and aviation sectors and guaranteeing uninterrupted power supply 24 hours a day, 365 days a year within five years. I hope he picks up the phone to President-elect Biden to day and offers all this!