Nigeria super grid China $2bn loan
Nigeria is negotiating a $2 billion loan with China’s Export-Import Bank to build a new “super grid” aimed at solving chronic power supply issues and boosting industrial output, Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu said.
Adelabu made the announcement at an economic summit in Abuja. He explained that the super grid would link Nigeria’s eastern and western industrial corridors, where many manufacturing firms currently rely on their own power sources because of unreliable national transmission.
The government says the project has already received cabinet approval. It is a part of broader reform efforts under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, which include overhauls of power sector policy, tariff adjustments, and incentives to get industrial users back onto the national grid.
Nigeria currently has an installed power generation capacity of about 13 gigawatts, but only about a third of that reaches end users. Frequent grid collapses and transmission inefficiencies worsen the problem. For many large consumers, self-generation via generators or solar has become the norm.
The proposed super grid aims to improve reliability and reduce the cost of doing business by ensuring more generated power is actually delivered. It is expected to help reduce dependence on self-generation, improve investor confidence, and accelerate industrial growth.
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