EU to invest €37 million in Nigeria’s power sector
The European Union (EU) is set to invest €37 million in the Nigerian power sector.
Bolaji Tunji, special adviser on strategic communication and media relations to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.
Mr Tunji said this is apart from about 200 million grants invested in the sector since 2008.
He said this disclosure was made by the EU ambassador to Nigeria, Samuela Isopi, during a visit to Mr Adelabu on Thursday.
According to the statement, Ms Isopi was accompanied by the new head of cooperation of the EU, DE Luca Massimo and the Programme Manager on Energy, Godfrey Ogbemudia.
During the visit, Mr Tunji said Ms Isopi spoke on the EU’s various intervention programmes in the power sector noting that the current support would cover small hydropower, solar for health care facilities, rural electrification with isolated and interconnected mini-grids projects, and circular economy in power sector projects.
She said the projects will commence this year.
Ms Isopi, according to the statement, also used the opportunity to invite the minister to an upcoming launch of two projects funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) which will both be launched on 26 March.
READ ALSO: EU to support Nigeria in establishing SGBV courts
In his response, Mr Adelabu who received the ambassador in the company of his Chief Technical Advisor, Adedayo Olowoniyi, expressed appreciation to the EU for the support they have been giving to them while noting that more support is needed to address the enormous challenges in the sector.
He identified the liquidity issue as the main problem that the government is trying its best to resolve and said that the market will only be sustainable and run efficiently when there is a cost-reflective tariff in place.
Mr Tunji added that the minister was very excited about EU programmes for the sector and confirmed the alignment of these programmes with the ministry’s strategy for the sector while promising to work with the EU on their programmes especially on small hydro and state electrification within the new act.
Nigeria has struggled with poor power supply for decades, a challenge that is estimated to cost businesses about $29 billion yearly, according to the World Bank.
The country has the lowest access to electricity globally, with about 92 million persons out of the country’s 200 million population lacking access to power, according to the Energy Progress Report 2022 released by Tracking SDG 7.
Earlier in the month, the Nigerian government attributed the main cause of poor power supply in the country to the low supply of gas to generating companies.
Support PREMIUM TIMES’ journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
Donate
TEXT AD: Call Willie – +2348098788999
The European Union (EU) is set to invest €37 million in the Nigerian power sector.
Bolaji Tunji, special adviser on strategic communication and media relations to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.
Mr Tunji said this is apart from about 200 million grants invested in the sector since 2008.
He said this disclosure was made by the EU ambassador to Nigeria, Samuela Isopi, during a visit to Mr Adelabu on Thursday.
According to the statement, Ms Isopi was accompanied by the new head of cooperation of the EU, DE Luca Massimo and the Programme Manager on Energy, Godfrey Ogbemudia.
During the visit, Mr Tunji said Ms Isopi spoke on the EU’s various intervention programmes in the power sector noting that the current support would cover small hydropower, solar for health care facilities, rural electrification with isolated and interconnected mini-grids projects, and circular economy in power sector projects.
She said the projects will commence this year.
Ms Isopi, according to the statement, also used the opportunity to invite the minister to an upcoming launch of two projects funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) which will both be launched on 26 March.
READ ALSO: EU to support Nigeria in establishing SGBV courts
In his response, Mr Adelabu who received the ambassador in the company of his Chief Technical Advisor, Adedayo Olowoniyi, expressed appreciation to the EU for the support they have been giving to them while noting that more support is needed to address the enormous challenges in the sector.
He identified the liquidity issue as the main problem that the government is trying its best to resolve and said that the market will only be sustainable and run efficiently when there is a cost-reflective tariff in place.
Mr Tunji added that the minister was very excited about EU programmes for the sector and confirmed the alignment of these programmes with the ministry’s strategy for the sector while promising to work with the EU on their programmes especially on small hydro and state electrification within the new act.
Nigeria has struggled with poor power supply for decades, a challenge that is estimated to cost businesses about $29 billion yearly, according to the World Bank.
The country has the lowest access to electricity globally, with about 92 million persons out of the country’s 200 million population lacking access to power, according to the Energy Progress Report 2022 released by Tracking SDG 7.
Earlier in the month, the Nigerian government attributed the main cause of poor power supply in the country to the low supply of gas to generating companies.
Support PREMIUM TIMES’ journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
Donate
TEXT AD: Call Willie – +2348098788999
Denial of responsibility! Techno Blender is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.