Nigeria has signed a Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) agreement with Germany to add 12,000 million watts of electricity to the national grid.
The Power initiative which is to be financed under the Government export credit facility, currently provided by a few German banks to Nigeria, will cost about $60 million with the importation of 10 transformers and 10 power mobile stations.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz both presided over the signing on Friday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), at the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP28) taking place at the Expo City in Dubai.
The Managing Director of the Federal Government of Nigeria Power Company, Kenny Anue signed on behalf of Nigeria while the Managing Director (Africa) Siemens AG, Nadja Haakansson, signed for Siemens.
Speaking on the agreement, Anue affirmed the commitment of President Tinubu to the development of power infrastructure in Nigeria, noting that he had reiterated that infrastructure development is critical to the ongoing reforms.
He also stated that electricity and financing are at the heart of the economic reform agenda of the administration, adding that the PPI by design encapsulates both elements with the support of partners, Siemens Energy and the financiers that are backed by the German government.
Addressing the President, Anue noted: “Mr President, with your strong and dynamic leadership through the Honorable Minister of power, now we seek to exploit or expedite what was already a worthwhile program in the presidential power initiative through this accelerated agreement today.
“Some of the things that have been achieved, erstwhile by the federal government have been the establishment of the FGN Power Company as the special purpose vehicle for the implementation of the project.”
He added that the German government has nominated the mandated lead arrangers and financiers, emphasising that Siemens Energy has also successfully delivered 10 units of power transformers and 10 units of mobile substations.
In his remarks, the Chairman of Siemens Energy Supervisory Board, Joe Kaeser, traced the history of the initial agreement to the Muhammadu Buhari administration in 2018, expressing delight that both parties have now been able to drive the process forward.
“I’m particularly happy to be here tonight to witness the signing of the Presidential Initiative for Power because in 2018 former President Buhari wanted me to come to Abuja and explain to him what we did in Egypt.
“And I said Mr. President, Egypt has 80 million (people) and we could use 14 gigawatts and Nigeria has 200 million people. So, we could need more gigawatts.
“Now, after five years, I’m really happy that this agreement has the spirit of supplying energy to the greater good of Nigerian people has been taken to a new level. Thank you very much for doing that. And as we say in Germany good things take time as we have seen tonight.”