Tinubu Inaugurates Africa’s First Renewable Energy College in Kogi

President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated Africa's first renewable energy college and a Green Hydrogen Research and Demonstration Pilot Plant in Kogi State, marking a significant step in the continent's energy transition.

The Barefoot Renewable Energy College (BARECKS) and the Green Hydrogen Plant, located at the Confluence University of Science and Technology in Osara, Kogi State, were described by Tinubu as world-class facilities built to international standards. The initiative aims to address Nigeria's challenge of converting its abundant natural resources like sunlight, wind, biomass, and water into electricity and jobs.

“

This is the first institution of its kind on the African continent, modelled on the celebrated vocational colleges of India that turned unlettered grandmothers into solar engineers. If that method could light the villages of Rajasthan, it can light the settlements of Kogi, Ondo and Cross River. Nigeria assumes, from today, the position of pacesetter in renewable energy capacity development across Africa.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who officially opened the college on behalf of the President, conveyed Tinubu's satisfaction with the project's completion. Shettima emphasized that a government's success is measured by the industries it establishes and the employment opportunities they create.

Tinubu highlighted that the opening of the college and plant answers the question of who will build and maintain Africa's future. He noted that BARECKS is modeled after vocational colleges in India that empowered unlettered women to become solar engineers. "If that method could light the villages of Rajasthan, it can light the settlements of Kogi, Ondo and Cross River," he stated, positioning Nigeria as a leader in renewable energy development across Africa.

“

Our continent has never suffered a deficit of intention. We have suffered the scarcity of hands trained to execute them.

The President expressed his satisfaction with the project's swift completion, contrasting it with the common experience of long-delayed infrastructure projects in Nigeria. "Two years ago, we stood on this ground for the groundbreaking of this institution... Today, we stand before a world-class edifice, completed to international standards," he remarked.

Tinubu explained that the college was established as a vocational and technical institution to bridge the significant gap in Africa's energy transition: the shortage of competent technical manpower. "Our continent has never suffered a deficit of intention. We have suffered the scarcity of hands trained to execute them," he said, adding that the college will produce skilled professionals in renewable energy technologies, equipped with internationally recognized certificates for employment or entrepreneurship.

“

Two years ago, we stood on this ground for the groundbreaking of this institution, with red earth underfoot and the ambition of a few determined Nigerians for company. Today, we stand before a world-class edifice, completed to international standards.