World Bank plans $400m funding for electricity, gas projects in Nigeria

Guardian

3 August 2011

World Bank plans $400m funding for electricity, gas projects in Nigeria .

THE World Bank has unfolded plans to offer a $400 million (about N60.8 billion) facility to Nigeria, for its electricity and gas supply improvement projects, the United Nations Office for Project Office Services (UNOPS) Officer-in-Charge for India, Murtada Sesay, has said.

Disclosing this at a workshop in Lagos at the weekend, he said that Nigerian energy engineers and professionals are being trained in India to improve their capacity to provide electricity access to more Nigerians and boost economic growth in the West African country.

He noted that while the Nigerian government endeavours to fully harness naturally endowed potentials of its power sector, the country has one of the lowest rates of electricity access in the world.

“Inadequate gas gathering for electricity generation, poor infrastructure, management, planning and regulation, and general under-investment have all hindered maximum performance of the power sector and affected the country’s economic growth.”