The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwunmi Adesina,
has revealed that Nigeria has the highest population of individuals living without electricity in the world.
Speaking at the 90th birthday celebration of former Head of State General Yakubu Gowon, Adesina noted that approximately 86 million Nigerians lack access to electricity, solidifying the country’s position as the global leader in this alarming statistic, according to Nairametrics.
Adesina further emphasized that the absence of a reliable power supply is crippling businesses and industries across the nation.
“It has been estimated by the IMF that Nigeria loses about $29 billion annually or 5.6% of its GDP due to lack of reliable power supply. The report also indicates that Nigeria spends $14 billion per year on generators and fuel.
“The lack of electricity is killing Nigerian industries. Today, no business can survive in Nigeria without generators. Consequently, the abnormal has become normal.
“Nigeria has gas and crude oil in abundance, yet 86 million people live daily without electricity. Today, Nigeria is the number one country in the world in terms of the total number of people without electricity,” Adesina said.
Adesina also stated that the African Development Bank is making significant investments in Nigeria’s electricity sector, as well as in the broader African region.
He mentioned that the African Development Bank is partnering with the World Bank to provide electricity to 300 million people by the end of 2030 through robust funding and investment.
According to him, the AfDB has already invested over $200 million in grid transmission to help strengthen the national grid and mitigate frequent collapses.
“To support the implementation of Nigeria’s power sector recovery program, the bank provides Nigeria with $200 million for the Nigerian electrification project which is designed to fill the country’s electricity access gap.
“ We have invested $210 million in the Nigeria transmission project to strengthen the grid -power evacuation and regional interconnection.
“The President of the World Bank and I made a decision in April that the two banks will connect 300 million Africans, including Nigeria to electricity by 2030. That’s what is called the Mission 300. The largest such effort in the world,“ he added.
It was previously reported that Nigeria and other African countries are set to benefit from a $90 billion electricity fund backed by the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
This fund is part of the global financial institutions’ plan to provide electricity to 300 million people in Africa by 2023.
The initiative, known as the Mission 300 program, aims to assess and support projects, helping them secure funding if they meet the program’s criteria.
