The Kwara State Government has said it plan to boost industrialization and commercialization with generation of 100 Megawatts of electricity through an Independent Power Project (IPP) as part of its plans to create an industrial cluster across the state.

According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the Kwara State Governor, Muyideen Akorede the IPP project was the highlight of a package of socio-economic projects designed to trigger rapid economic growth and job creation.

“We are taking advantage of the unbundling of the power sector by the Federal Government to create an IPP that will generate power to facilitate the emergence of industrial clusters. This will accelerate industrialisation, economic growth and generate a significant number of jobs for our youths, not to mention other sectors of our economy that will benefit from regular electricity supply”, the statement reads.

The governor of the state, Abdulfatah Ahmed, who identified the other projects as four mega schools, a modern ICT Village, construction of new hospitals, vast road construction across the three senatorial zones, construction of modern markets, and the remodelling of major sports infrastructure, said the state government had spent billions of naira on the provision of power supply infrastructure over the years and realized that IPP project offers the most efficient and cost effective means of industrializing the state, boosting commerce and enhancing the welfare of the people of Kwara State.

He assured that the proposed IPP project will run alongside the state government’s current power supply efforts which are focused on the provision of energy infrastructure, stressing that although these have boosted the availability of electricity, it was not enough to support industries in the state.