Saturday, 20 June 2015

French agency to boost Nigeria’s power transmission with €170m



The Federal Government is on the lookout for a €170m facility from the Agence Francaise Development (AFD) for the development of electricity transmission around the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Ambassador Godknows Igali, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja during the inauguration of the steering committee on the National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN)/AFD for the feasibility study on enhancing vocational training delivery for the power sector in Nigeria.

He said: “In terms of transmission, we are working with AFD, which is partnering with us. We are expecting €170m for transmission. It is a very long term facility window to build up our transmission network.”

He expressed gratitude to AFD for the facility and training for NAPTIN .

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), according to him, is providing $200 million to boost transmission capacity around Lagos.

The Permanent Secretary noted that following the rising interest of investors in the power sector, especially solar, after privatization, there is urgent need to boost the transmission network.

According to him, in its attempt to consolidate on the achievements of NAPTIN, the Federal Government is now partnering with the AFD and the Canadian CPCs to train manpower on the specific needs of the power sector.

He revealed that AFD is releasing €260,000 to the CPCs to develop manpower in NAPTIN between this year and 2019.

The responsibility of the steering committee, said the AFD Project Manager, Education and Vocational Training Sector Human Development Department, Celine Gratadour, is to support NAPTIN and the consultant (CPCs) in collecting any necessary data, information, or in organising stakeholder meetings.

It is also expected to validate the reports submitted by the consultant after being approved by NAPTIN and AFD.

Membership of the committee are drawn from the Federal Ministry of Power, Federal Ministry of Finance, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Electricity Distribution Companies, Electricity Generation Companies and the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

Igali is to chair the committee, which he inaugurated yesterday.

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