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US Government Stimulating Nigerian Power Sector with $1 Billion

Eskom Generation’s pilot wind-farm facility at Klipheuwel in the Western Cape, South Africa. Photo by Warren Rohner from Cape Town, South Africa.

The United States government is investing about $1 billion in the power sector of Nigeria, said the coordinator of the program to light up Africa, Andrew Herscowitz.

The plan, known as Power Africa, was announced at a media conference in Abuja, Nigeria last week. Herscowitz added that the US government has already committed several billion dollars to funding the developing nation’s energy projects.

Power Africa was initiated by President Barack Obama in 2013. The goal was to improve access to electricity there, adding over 30,000 megawatts (MW) of more efficient and cleaner energy development in sub-Saharan Africa. The project also aims to jump-start the development of other sources of power, such as wind, solar, hydro, natural gas, biomass, and geothermal energy sources, all found in abundance in Africa.

“It has advanced US$50 million in financing from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to Lumos, a Nigeria-based solar energy company, to scale up it’s off-grid solar power service to about 200,000 Nigerian homes and businesses.

“Power Africa has supported power companies in the country to the tune of 100 million dollars capital expenditure credit enhancement facility with a corresponding 6.5 million dollars in technical assistance and (supported) another 1.5 million dollars to turn around the DISCOS,” Herscowitz said.

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