 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Iran offers nuclear aid to Nigeria
Abuja (AFP) Aug 29, 2008 Iran is ready to share its nuclear technology with Nigeria to help the energy-starved west African powerhouse boost electricity generation, a senior Iranian official has said. Junior trade minister Mohammadali Zeyghami made the comments in a press conference late Thursday after three days of talks between officials of the two oil-producing nations. Both sides emphasised that any atomic energy deal they would strike would be for civilian purposes only. "Nigeria is never entering into any agreement with Iran for any matter that has to do with weapons," Nigeria's deputy foreign minister Tijjani Kaura said. "There shouldn't be a misunderstanding between exploration or uses of energy to provide power and the uses of energy for weapons," said Kaura, adding that the distinction was necessary "so that our relationship with Iran will not be misconstrued by Nigerians and the entire international community." Zeyghami said: "We not only consider it Iran's inalienable right but also the Nigerians' so that they could use this clean source of energy and nobody can limit the use of knowledge anywhere in the world." Kaura added that Nigeria was seeking cooperation on nuclear energy "in order to move our industrial ambition forward," in an economy whose development has been hamstrung by a lack of adequate electricty supply. Despite huge oil and gas resources, Nigeria's electricity supplies are woefully inadequate due to decades of corruption and infrastructural neglect. Nigeria currently generates 3,300 megawatts of electricity according to officials who claim the country's current demands stand at around 20,000 megawatts. In the continent's most developed country, South Africa, around 38,000 megawatts are used to supply a population roughly a third of Nigeria's 140 million people. The two OPEC members signed a raft of agreements on customs, trade and investment, and broadcasting but Kaura said one major area of cooperation will be in the oil and gas sector. The UN Security Council has slapped three sets of sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process which can be diverted to develop the explosive core a nuclear bomb. Iran has denied it is developing a weapons programme. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Civil Nuclear Energy Science, Technology and News Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
Hong Kong and China sign nuclear, gas energy deals
Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 28, 2008Hong Kong and China signed nuclear and gas energy deals on Thursday which the southern city hopes will reduce both pollution and the need for a controversial liquefied gas terminal. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook