The Federal Government has revealed in Abuja, that the $550 million loan borrowed from World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) is currently being spent to electrify rural communities across Nigeria.
The fund, targeting unserved and underserved communities, comes under the Nigeria Electrification projects (NEP) and is implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
About 267 agreements totalling $395 million have already been assigned for renewable electricity deployment, REA said in a media parley in Abuja while adding that $350 million of the loan came from the World Bank while the $200 million loan came from AfDB.
The agency, in a briefing, noted that $64.8 million of the commitments have been disbursed to private sector partners for the execution of the projects. The plan would provide off-grid reliable and clean electricity supply to 705,000 households, 90,000 micro, small and medium enterprises, 100 isolation and treatment centres and 400 primary healthcare centres in unserved and underserved areas of the country, Managing Director of REA, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, said.
Ahmad noted that through the project government money is used as an enabler to attract private investment.
