Nigeria has overtaken the Democratic Republic of Congo with 25 percent of people without access to electricity, making it the highest country globally with citizens that lack access to power.
This was revealed by the World Bank during a virtual meeting with power reporters in Abuja on the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP).
Word Bank officials said the situation had worsened as electricity supply was unreliable and blackout had been constant.
“Nigeria now has the largest number of unelectrified people globally and the trend is worsening; of the electrified, the supply is very unreliable with widespread blackouts,” the banks said in a presentation.
It stated that electrification which was growing at 1.1 per cent yearly since 2010 has not kept pace with population growth of 3 per cent yearly, widening access to electricity deficit by 3 million people to 85 million. representing 57 per cent of the population.
“Nigeria now has 25 per cent more unelectrified people than the 2nd most unelectrified country (DRC – in absolute terms). For the bottom, 40 per cent of the population (mostly rural), access to grid electricity is even lower at about 31 per cent nationwide. Regionally, only south-west has access of over 50 per cent (except Kano).”
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Commenting, WBG Practice Manager, West and Central Africa Energy, Ashish Khanna, who had presented the document, said, “The power sector is operationally inefficient with unreliable supply exacerbated by high losses and lack of payment discipline.
“Businesses in Nigeria lose about $29 billion annually because of unreliable electricity while Nigerian utilities get paid for only a half of electricity they receive.”
The bank also said 80 per cent of grid connected households have six or fewer hours of electricity per day while 40% of those who have access to power rely on offgrid means like generators and solar power plants.
However, the bank said the PSRP intervention is helping to change the narrative. It approved $1.25bn between June 2020 and February 2021 to reset the power sector.
The bank also said to achieve universal access to electricity by 2030, Nigeria would need to connect over 1 million households yearly while devising means to ensure consumers pay for the electricity consumed.
