Nigeria, W/Bank Sign $300m Devt Financing Agreement
- By Simeon Ogoegbulem
- Published May 17th, 2010
- News
- Unrated
STRONG indications emerged last week that the parlous state of the nation’s power sector may receive the needed boost as the federal government and the World Bank signed a $300 million (about N45 billion) development financing agreement between Nigeria and the World Bank. BusinessWorld Intelligence can disclose that agreement provides fund for the development and improvement of electric power supply in Nigeria.
The agreement, which is coming under the Nigeria Electricity and Gas Improvement Project (Negip), aims at addressing the challenges militating against electric power generation in the country. Nigerians have continued to yearn for stable power supply in the last two decades, a situation which has made the country the largest importer of electricity generating sets in the world.
Olusegun Aganga, minister of finance, who signed on behalf of Nigeria, noted that the project could not have come at a better time given the persistent epileptic power supply in the country.
Aganga noted that the current power situation in the country has raised serious concerns among industrialists leading to the close down of many manufacturing companies with the attendant loss of jobs.
The minister stated that government is seriously disturbed by the present state of affairs in the power sector and assured that government would leave no stone unturned in its quest to turn around the ugly situation in the power sector.
The development financing agreement would be utilized to improve the availability and reliability of gas supply for power generation. The fund would also be used to improve network capacity and access to quality power supply in identified cluster areas.
The minister therefore charged the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) which is charged with the responsibility of implementing the project to ensure that everything is done to achieve a successful implementation. He directed that serious attention be given to those components of the project that would make its impact felt by Nigerians within a short time.
The agreement, which is coming under the Nigeria Electricity and Gas Improvement Project (Negip), aims at addressing the challenges militating against electric power generation in the country. Nigerians have continued to yearn for stable power supply in the last two decades, a situation which has made the country the largest importer of electricity generating sets in the world.
Olusegun Aganga, minister of finance, who signed on behalf of Nigeria, noted that the project could not have come at a better time given the persistent epileptic power supply in the country.
Aganga noted that the current power situation in the country has raised serious concerns among industrialists leading to the close down of many manufacturing companies with the attendant loss of jobs.
The minister stated that government is seriously disturbed by the present state of affairs in the power sector and assured that government would leave no stone unturned in its quest to turn around the ugly situation in the power sector.
The development financing agreement would be utilized to improve the availability and reliability of gas supply for power generation. The fund would also be used to improve network capacity and access to quality power supply in identified cluster areas.
The minister therefore charged the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) which is charged with the responsibility of implementing the project to ensure that everything is done to achieve a successful implementation. He directed that serious attention be given to those components of the project that would make its impact felt by Nigerians within a short time.
