Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has urged energy-intensive industries to explore means of harnessing clean and efficient energy in a bid to facilitate sustainable and environmentally-friendly development.
The President of the association, Mansur Ahmed, stated this in Lagos on Thursday at the GEF-UNIDO Industrial Energy Efficiency and Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production policy dialogue session.
Addressing the gathering in his opening remarks, Ahmed said energy plays a critical role in any nation’s economy and, as such, must be treated with the attention and urgency that it deserves.
He said, “Energy is the main driver of any nation’s economy as the performance of all the sectors of the economy depends on availability and usage of energy, but most economies including Nigeria are challenged with insufficient energy supply. This is evident by the inconsistency in energy supply and the high cost of providing alternative energy for industrial production in Nigeria.”
“Addressing the stated challenge calls for energy management to maximise the available energy optimally at all levels to facilitate sustainable and environmentally friendly development. Therefore, it is necessary for industries to explore these energy efficiency strategies to curb energy wastages and augment the available electricity supply for maximum use to reduce the cost incurred in generating alternative energy and increase the competitiveness of Nigerian industries.”
He added that the adoption of Industrial Energy Efficiency and Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production would yield macroeconomic and social benefits, including enhanced energy security (through reduced reliance on imported fossil fuels), reduced cost of production (through usage of energy savings machineries and Equipments) and employment generation (as domestic Energy Efficiency industries are developed).
The policy dialogue session had representatives from the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the Bank of Industry.