The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has announced that the Federal Government will commence a new rural electrification project in November, funded by the World Bank, aimed at providing electricity to 17.5 million Nigerians.
Abba Aliyu, the Managing Director of the REA, disclosed this during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday.
In December 2023, the World Bank approved the Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up project, backed by a $750 million International Development Association credit, which is expected to attract over $1 billion in private investment as well as significant co-financing from development partners. This financing includes $100 million from the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet and $200 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Other partners collaborating on the programme include the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the German Development Agency, SEforAll, and the African Development Bank.
The project, which was approved ten months ago, is set to begin implementation next month, though the reasons for the delay were not provided by the REA MD.
Aliyu explained that electricity would be provided to three million beneficiaries via isolated mini-grids, 1.5 million people through interconnected mini-grids, and 12 million Nigerians via merged grids and stand-alone solar systems.
He added that the project is expected to run for five years, building on the successes of past projects that cost $550 million and were funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
