Leading manufacturing conglomerate, Dangote Group has sealed fresh investment deal with Cable News network (CNN) that will focus on energy in 2017 amongst other stables.
It would be recalled that the Africa’s Energy Surge reports air daily in flagship CNN International shows, The CNNMoney View with Nina Dos Santos and the World Right Now with Hala Gorani, culminating in a special 30-minute show airing from Saturday 17 December.
The reports and special show, which look at how Africa will meet the UN goal of universal electricity by 2030, are to be aligned with Dangote billboards and branding.
President of the group, Aliko Dangote said electricity is ‘key’ to Africa’s economic growth and development. It is estimated that more than two-thirds of over 1billion people living in Africa do not have access to electricity.
Statistics show that even in Nigeria, the Dangote Group is investing billions of dollars in gas projects that can produce enough gas to generate 12,000 MW of power.
Apart from pushing to bridging the massive electricity deficit in the country, beyond Nigeria, the Group is also spearheading efforts to increase access to electricity through investments in energy projects across Africa.
In his remarks at the just concluded African Energy Leaders Group (AELG), Dangote noted that the group, as an advocacy group (he co-founded), is strongly committed to improving on Africa energy growth and development. According to him, the group is working closely with lawmakers in the United States, to ensure success of laudable initiatives such as the Electrify Africa Act and the Power Africa initiative, which are designed to double electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, and ultimately place the continent in a position to meet the United Nations’ goal of having Universal Electricity access by 2030.