World Bank makes fresh promise to Nigeria on power
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To the Bank, the current problems facing the country’s deteriorated power sector were as a result of investing in a structure that was yet to go through a thorough reform process. The sector lacked the right policies to achieve set targets, it added.
African Region World Bank Vice president, Oby Ezekwesili at the weekend, said that apart from funding, the institutional and policy related issues that had made the sector non-functional would need to be addressed if required results must be achieved.
She said, “We have indicated that the investment of the government over the period of the eight years from 1999 to 2007 in the total sum of about $2.4 billion in addition to its $1.5 billion in the national integrated power sector is huge resources.
“But like I mentioned to you, if you generated 2,000 additional mega watts of power but did not think of the fact that the gas to power the 2000 will need to be available, these are the institutional and policy related issues that the sector would need to tackle because if, out of the 2000 additional mw that was generated within that period, only 300 is activated, you can see clearly that it is a matter of getting the right policy steps”.
The Vice President said that the bank’s intervention this time around would be done in such an integrated manner, “that looks at the distribution end as equally as important as the generation end; at the transmission end as equally as important as the distribution end as well as the generation end and bringing a coordinated approach to the governance of the sector is going to be key.
Our power sector theme is very well established and ready as the government has demanded to work with the key actors in the power sector to establishing a pact”.
According to her, the bank decided to respond to President Yar’Adua’s call to support the government in tackling the challenges in the power sector because the prospect of improving the country’s economic growth rate is really dimmed where there is no availability of reliable power to both citizens and business.
She pointed that despite the bank’s existing operations of about $407 million in the different aspects of the power generation, transmission and distribution, it decided to go assist beyond just funding the sector because Nigeria’s economic growth rate could improve by as much as five percent if the energy problems are tackled.
Ezekwesili however noted that it is in the government taking true responsibility for resolving all of those challenges and issues that there would be improvement in the state of the power sector.
African Region World Bank Vice president, Oby Ezekwesili at the weekend, said that apart from funding, the institutional and policy related issues that had made the sector non-functional would need to be addressed if required results must be achieved.
She said, “We have indicated that the investment of the government over the period of the eight years from 1999 to 2007 in the total sum of about $2.4 billion in addition to its $1.5 billion in the national integrated power sector is huge resources.
“But like I mentioned to you, if you generated 2,000 additional mega watts of power but did not think of the fact that the gas to power the 2000 will need to be available, these are the institutional and policy related issues that the sector would need to tackle because if, out of the 2000 additional mw that was generated within that period, only 300 is activated, you can see clearly that it is a matter of getting the right policy steps”.
The Vice President said that the bank’s intervention this time around would be done in such an integrated manner, “that looks at the distribution end as equally as important as the generation end; at the transmission end as equally as important as the distribution end as well as the generation end and bringing a coordinated approach to the governance of the sector is going to be key.
Our power sector theme is very well established and ready as the government has demanded to work with the key actors in the power sector to establishing a pact”.
According to her, the bank decided to respond to President Yar’Adua’s call to support the government in tackling the challenges in the power sector because the prospect of improving the country’s economic growth rate is really dimmed where there is no availability of reliable power to both citizens and business.
She pointed that despite the bank’s existing operations of about $407 million in the different aspects of the power generation, transmission and distribution, it decided to go assist beyond just funding the sector because Nigeria’s economic growth rate could improve by as much as five percent if the energy problems are tackled.
Ezekwesili however noted that it is in the government taking true responsibility for resolving all of those challenges and issues that there would be improvement in the state of the power sector.
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