EU to commit €37m to Nigeria’s struggling electricity sector

The European Union plans to invest €37m in Nigeria’s struggling power sector, the EU Ambassador to Nigeria, Samuela Isopi, disclosed.

According to a statement issued by the power ministry on Friday, Isopi disclosed this during a visit to the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu.

The proposed €37m investment differed from grants of about €200m invested in the sector by the European Union since 2008.

The EU ambassador was said to have been accompanied by the new Head of Cooperation of the EU, Mr Luca Massimo, and the Programme Manager on Energy, Mr Godfrey Ogbemudia.

During the visit, the ambassador spoke on the EU’s various intervention programmes in the power sector, adding that the current support would cover small hydropower and solar projects for healthcare facilities.

Isopi said the fresh intervention would also cover rural electrification with isolated and interconnected mini-grid projects and the circular economy in the power sector project.

“She (Isopi) said the projects would commence this year,” the statement added.

Responding to the EU’s delegation, Adelabu identified the liquidity issues in Nigeria’s power sector as the main problem the government was trying to resolve.

The Minister pledged to work with the EU on its programmes, especially the small hydropower and state electrification projects, within the new Electricity Act.

DAILY POST recalls that the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry has continued to battle power outages and other challenges in the past ten years despite privatization in 2013.