Nigeria secures $US500m AfDB financing for new Energy Transition programme
Nigeria has secured a $US500 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to drive its electricity access through the Economic Governance and Energy Transition Support Programme (EGET-SP), which supports development of 250GW of installed electricity capacity by the year 2050.
The EGET-SP is a new programme of the Federal Government geared towards accelerating transformation of the country’s electricity infrastructure and improving access to cleaner sources of energy.
Making the disclosure, Thursday, the Board of Directors of the AfDB said it has approved the loan of $500 million to Nigeria, to finance the first phase of the programme.
According to AfDB, the loan will help close the financing gap of the Federal Budget in the 2024/25 fiscal year, specifically supporting the implementation of the country’s new Electricity Act and the Nigeria Energy Transition Plan.
Federal Government, it would be recalled, launched the energy transition plan in August 2022, and in June 2023, passed a new Electricity Act decentralizing the electricity supply industry and setting the stage for increased investments by sub-national governments and the private sector.
The energy transition plan envisions the development, by 2050, of 250 GW of installed electricity capacity, 90% of which will be renewable. It will provide clean cooking access to the bulk of the population by 2030, using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), biogas, biofuels like ethanol, and electric cookstoves.
The Economic Governance and Energy Transition Support Program will also support the implementation of these policies, helping deliver much-needed upgrades of Nigeria’s electricity infrastructure, and fast-tracking the country’s efforts to transition millions of households and businesses to cleaner and renewable sources of energy.
AfDB’s $500m support to Nigeria is the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at supporting the country’s economic growth, poverty reduction, and climate action efforts.
The EGET-SP is in line with the Bank Group’s new Ten-Year Strategy 2024-2033, its High 5s priorities, and the New Deal on Energy for Africa which seeks to achieve universal access to modern energy by 2030.
As of July 2024, AfDB’s active portfolio in Nigeria is valued at about $4.4 billion.
