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World Bank approves $486m to boost electricity in Nigeria

By Cornelius Essen, Abuja
19 February 2018   |   3:21 am
The World Bank has approved $486million credit and scale up facility to boost electricity in Nigeria. The Senior Communications Officer, Nigeria, Olufunke Olufon, disclosed this in a statement. He said the International Development Association (IDA) facility is for the rehabilitation and upgrading of electricity transmission substations and lines. The fund, which is under the Nigeria…

World Bank

The World Bank has approved $486million credit and scale up facility to boost electricity in Nigeria.

The Senior Communications Officer, Nigeria, Olufunke Olufon, disclosed this in a statement.

He said the International Development Association (IDA) facility is for the rehabilitation and upgrading of electricity transmission substations and lines.

The fund, which is under the Nigeria Electricity Transmission Project, is expected to increase the power transfer capacity of transmission networks.

It would also enable the distribution companies to supply consumers with additional power.

Olufon said: “Together with other investments and policy measures, the project would contribute to ensuring adequate and reliable electricity supply for Nigeria’s continued economic development.”

He said the World Bank would also support private sector participation, capacity development and better governance in the Transmission Company of Nigeria and other sector institutions.

“This project is part of the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) by the Federal Government, which is a comprehensive package of policy, legal, regulatory, operational and financial interventions that would restore the financial viability of the power sector,” the statement added.

The measures, which would be implemented through 2021, are aimed at improving transparency, service delivery and re-establishing investors’ confidence in the sector.

According to the statement, IDA has since 1960 supported development work in 113 countries.

In the last three years, annual commitments had averaged about $18 billion, with about 54 per cent of it going to Africa.

IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 75 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa.

Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.5 billion people who live in IDA-focused countries.

The association has helped the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programmes.

The grants are to boost economic growth, reduce poverty and improve the lives of poor people.

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