FG, EU, German Govt Sign £17.9m Power Development Agreement

The Federal Government has signed an agreement with the European Union and the German Government to provide support worth £17.9m to fund Nigeria’s off-grid electricity project.

The project, launched under the third phase of the Nigerian Energy Support Programme, aims to foster investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and rural electrification.

According to the EU, the programme will enable 154,000 people to access electricity and connect 30,000 others to clean cooking gas, while eight megawatts of electricity will be generated in the third phase.

Inga Stefanowicz, Head of Section Green and Digital Economy at the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said, “Achieving a cleaner future is the business of all stakeholders.

The EU has partnered with Nigeria to launch this goal for many years to achieve sustainable energy, energy security, energy efficiency, access, and clean energy.”

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Mahmuda Mamman, said the project will help close the gap of 100 million Nigerians not having access to electricity.

“Renewable energy is significant in addressing the challenges of providing electricity for the unserved rural communities in Nigeria,” he said.

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The NESP was commissioned in 2013 as a technical assistance programme co-funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Power.

The programme’s third phase was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development with €8.9m Euros in May this year, and the EU has recently commissioned an additional €9m, increasing the total budget to €17.9m.