By Francis Ogwo
The poor state of power supply in Nigeria has been estimated by the World Bank to have had its toil on the economy, costing upto $26.2 billion or N10.1 trillion in losses
The World Bank made this known in a statement on Friday while announcing a $500 million support fund to improve access to electricity in Nigeria and expand the metered network of power distributors.
According to the global bank, the money will help distribution companies “make necessary investments to rehabilitate networks, install electric meters for more accurate customer billing and to improve quality of service for those already connected to the grid.”
The bank had stated that to qualify for funds, private distribution companies must meet various criteria including connection targets, financial management and network expansion, the lender said.
The loan follows the World Bank’s backing last year of a $750 million project to boost the energy sector of Africa’s biggest economy.
Nigeria lost about $26.2 billion as a result of unstable power supply and 43% of the country’s 200 million people aren’t connected to the grid, the World Bank said.
