The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a US$150 million sovereign loan to the Federal Government of Nigeria to finance the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP). The financing will support rural electrification efforts in Nigeria by facilitating private sector development and rollout of off-grid solutions, as well as the installation of dedicated power systems for Federal Universities.
The Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF), a US$2 billion facility sponsored by the People’s Bank of China and administered by the African Development Bank, has also approved a US$ 50 Million Loan to the Federal Government of Nigeria to co-finance the project.
The joint financing from the Bank and AGTF will support the Federal Government of Nigeria’s efforts to address critical energy access deficit in the country and catalyze achievement of universal energy access by 2030 targets. The NEP, which will be implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), presents an innovative approach to address the energy access deficit by channeling private sector investments into a commercially viable mini-grid and off-grid solutions.
The Bank’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth, Amadou Hott, welcomed the Board’s approval of NEP, underscoring the importance of projects that leverage private sector investment into energy access solutions. “Given the limited amount of public financing available, projects that catalyze private sector investment are critical in enabling the Bank and its Regional Member Countries meet their shared objective of electrifying the continent within the next decade.”
The NEP is aligned with the African Development Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa, the High 5 priorities, as well as with the Bank’s Climate Change Action Plan. The project is further aligned with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Strategy and Implementation Plan (RESIP), and the Power Sector Recovery Programme whose objective is to increase private investments into the energy sector.
NEP will also create jobs, and impact the Federal Government of Nigeria’s broader education sector goals by increasing access to affordable electricity at Federal Universities through hybrid power plants that reduce heavy reliance on diesel generators.
Original source: AfDB
Published on 3 December 2018
