India Exim Bank’s $100 Million Funds Nigeria Power Projects

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – India’s Export-Import Bank will provide Nigeria with $100 million in concessionary loans to fund power projects.

They include a solar-power plant to supply the northern city of Kaduna and two gas-fired facilities to be built in the south-eastern states of Enugu and Cross River, Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria B.N. Reddy said in a Nov. 7 interview in the commercial capital, Lagos.

“The power sector has been identified as an area we can have a considerable amount of cooperation,” Reddy said. “Many big companies in India see a market here and in the coming years.”

Nigeria has set a target to boost its power-grid capacity threefold in four years as part of efforts to end a history of daily blackouts, help to cut business costs and boost productivity. The government plans for a diversified mix of supply that will have 30 percent of power generation coming from renewable energy by 2030, according to the power ministry. The country currently derives most of its electricity from gas-fired plants.

India has identified renewable energy as a new area of cooperation with Nigeria as more companies from the Asian nation focus on providing solar-energy supplies to Africa’s most populous country, according to Reddy.

Nigeria’s worst economic contraction in 25 years last year, caused by a drop in the output and price of oil, is seen as “a passing cloud” by most Indian investors, Reddy said. “They are looking forward to a better time as the Nigerian economy recovers.”

Source: Bloomberg Business News