- Niger is about to start operating a power station offered by Morocco.
- The station will start supplying electricity by the end of this month.
Niger is about to start operating a power station offered by Morocco in a bid to help the Sahel country ease its energy crisis. The country Niger is already one of the least electrified countries in the World.
Niger has an electrification rate of only 20 per cent, ranking ahead of five poor African states: South Sudan, Burundi, Chad, Malawi and Burkina Faso. This left the country dependent on energy imports from neighbouring Nigeria in a context of soaring relations following the military coup.
Also, Morocco donated the 22.5 MW capacity station to help Niger meet some of its electricity needs as part of a south-south cooperation logic with tangible benefits for citizens.
The station will start supplying electricity by the end of this month. King Mohammed VI ordered the donation following a visit to Rabat by Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine.
Likewise, Morocco’s water and electricity utility (ONEE) officials visited Niamey to assess the country’s needs and consider measures to ease the energy deficit.
Morocco has offered a larger approach, the Atlantic initiative, to help landlocked states access the Atlantic through Moroccan ports.
Morocco launched the operational phase of the Royal Atlantic Initiative for Sahel countries on July 7. This seeks to transform the region into a space for human interaction and economic integration. The royal initiative explores solutions for integration and economic transformation in the Sahel region.
Furthermore, Mohamed Methqal, Ambassador and Director-General of the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI), said that the operationalisation of the Sahel countries’ membership in the initiative has already started, noting that the initiative seeks to foster economic integration among the region’s countries. The countries in this initiative include Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Chad.