Power projects: FG to access $500m AfDB loan

Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo

The Federal Government on Tuesday said it had activated a $500m African Development Bank loan to boost power infrastructure in the country.

It said the loan would serve as an intervention fund in the power sector and would be released in tranches of $100m.

Speaking during the inauguration of a technical monitoring committee set up to track projects executed by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, said the company would access the funds as it worked to bridge the enormous electricity transmission gap in the sector.

Nebo, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Mr. Godknows Igali, said, “We have been challenged by the problem of not being able to evacuate power beyond 4,500 Megawatts.

“From what the TCN gave us, if we have appropriate funding, in the next one year, we will be able to double our transmission capacity. The technical committee is critical as it is required by AfDB to access the loan.”

TCN is one of the successor companies of the unbundled Power Holding Company of Nigeria charged with the responsibility of evacuating and transmitting generated electricity.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Manitoba Hydro Limited, managers of TCN, Mr. Don Priestman, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, however, said the loan was insufficient.

He said, “We need all the money we can get and whatever we can get from that source is extremely welcomed. We need a lot more money than that, but that was an excellent start and we are going to put it to good use immediately.