As Nigeria plans to fund electricity development sector with N476.3bn external loan
BudgIT has kicked as Nigeria’s debt is set to Increase by 1.54%.
Disclosing this on its Twitter handle, the group said that Nigeria plans to spend N661 billion to improve electricity access through the Nigeria Distribution Sector Recovery Programme (DISREP).
According to the report, the fund is targeted at the electricity development sector.
“DISREP will support the operational efficiency and infrastructure components of the Power Sector Recovery Plan (PSRP) which is to run from 2020-2030,” the group reported.
According to the report, “N476.3bn, which represents 72.1% of the total sum of N664bn for DISREP, will be funded with loans.
“The loan consists of N265.3bn from African Development Bank and N189.5bn from WorldBank.”
According to the report, a review of Nigeria’s current electricity distribution status shows that 85 million Nigerians currently have no access to grid electricity, and Nigeria records N10.1 trillion annually as economic losses due to lack of reliable power supply, among others.
The fund according to the group will be disbursed as follows:
– On-lending to Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOS) to provide electricity meters for accurate billing.
– Design “Consumer Assistance Fund”, to absorb the shock of electricity subsidy removal on vulnerable households.
In conclusion, BudgIT advised that “the Nigeria Government ensure that DISCOS stick to the performance metrics for accessing the loans, also FG and Implementing agencies must ensure that the loans obtained translate into real value for DISCOS and Nigerians.”
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