Nigeria is in discussion with China’s Export-Import Bank for a $2 billion loan to finance a new “super grid” to ease the country’s power shortages. According to Bloomberg, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this during an economic summit in Abuja on Monday.
Adelabu explained that the project is part of government efforts to decentralise power generation and encourage large-scale industrial users who left the national grid due to its unreliability to reconnect. The new transmission infrastructure will link the eastern and western regions of the country, where most of Nigeria’s industrial consumers are located.
“It’s part of plans to decentralise power generation in Nigeria and get the heavy commercial users that left the power grid because of its unreliability to return,” he said. The power grid has experienced multiple collapses over the years, often attributed to inadequate generation capacity, transmission constraints, and technical faults.
Adelabu said the proposed super grid would improve transmission efficiency and ensure more power reaches industrial zones.
He added that the Federal Executive Council has already approved financing for the project. Adelabu also revealed that recent tariff adjustments for urban consumers have improved industry revenues by 70% in 2024 and are projected to rise further by 41% to N2.4 trillion ($1.6 billion) this year.
