The United States government has pledged N115 billion to support Nigeria’s power sector reform efforts.
At the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Federal Ministry of Power, Power Africa Coordinator Richard Nelson highlighted the U.S. government’s commitment to enhancing electricity access across Africa. He stated that the initiative aims to double electricity access on the continent by 2030.
Nelson noted, “We have been in operation for about 11 years and have made significant gains across the continent. We have helped almost 15,000 megawatts of power projects reach financial flows in 152 different projects, leveraging about $26 billion. We’ve helped almost 200 million people across the continent get access to electricity. And with all of that, Nigeria is a special place for us. It has been a critical priority since the beginning and will continue to be so going forward.”
He added, “This MOU that USAID will be signing with you represents a very key component of the Power Africa engagement with Nigeria as a whole for the next several years. We’re excited to be supporting that. Nigeria itself, the work that we’ve done, has resulted in almost 5 million connections, which represents upwards of 20-plus million people just over the last five years. We’ve also supported about 3,000 megawatts of electricity reaching financial flows, and we look to support more of that over the next few years.”
USAID Nigeria Mission Director Melissa Jones explained that the MoU would strengthen and accelerate the partnership with the Ministry of Power. “Nigeria’s lead power sector policymaking institution falls under your watch, Honorable Minister, and you have done such an incredible job as well as laying out to all of us your five-point plan. We are very excited to sign this MOU and to achieve our shared goals under the MOU, USAID intends to launch Empower Nigeria, a new N115 billion program to support Nigeria’s energy reform and clean energy transition,” she stated.
Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adekola Adelabu, remarked that the N115.2 billion partnership with USAID marks a significant step towards addressing the longstanding challenges of providing reliable and sustainable power to all Nigerians.