President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday pledged a 3.5-billion-dollar electricity grid for the power-starved African giant, but gave few details on how the pre-election promise would be paid for.
Jonathan has made improved access to power a key goal in a country where electricity outages are a daily occurrence despite its huge oil wealth. The government also wants to privatise parts of the power generation chain.
His office said in a statement that the new grid would be built in four years at a cost of 3.5 billion dollars (2.7 billion euros).
“President Jonathan directed that it should be funded as a federal asset with additional financing from private investors and international finance and development agencies,” it said without providing further details.
It said the new grid would be 700 kilovolts and “significantly reduce the huge amount of power currently lost in transmission.”
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and the world’s eighth-largest oil exporter, but has long been held back by corruption. The government has been unable to provide adequate basic services, including electricity.
Decrepit infrastructure has harmed power distribution and the poor state of the country’s refineries has led Nigeria to import fuel despite its wealth of oil and gas.
Presidential elections are set for early next year, and Jonathan, who took over in May after the death of president Umaru Yar’Adua, is widely expected to run.