FG, France sign €25m agreement to improve electricity supply in Nigeria

The Nigerian government and the French Development Agency (AFD) have signed a grant agreement of €25 million for the Northern Corridor Project jointly funded by the European Union and the AFD. The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, and the AFD Country Director in Nigeria, Xavier Muron, signed the agreement Wednesday in the presence of the Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, and the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Cecile TASSIN-PELZER.

The Northern Corridor Project, being implemented by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), is meant to strengthen low-carbon economic growth in West Africa by improving the quality of the electricity network in Nigeria and supporting the development of a regional electricity market under the West African Power Pool (WAPP).

The specific objectives of the project, in line with the Nigerian Energy Transition Plan (ETP), are to:

— reinforce globally the north-west network and develop access to electricity for the population

— help evacuate/distribute the solar-generated power from future projects in the North

— participate in the WAPP interconnection project with Niger Republic

The project will build more than 800km of 330 kV double circuit transmission lines and construct or upgrade 13 substations.

The grant agreement signed today represents the EU’s contribution to the project while the AFD contribution of €202 million was signed in December 2020. The total cost of the project is around 238 million Euros including a 12 million Euros contribution from TCN.

In terms of expected impacts:

— 5GW additional evacuation capacity to be created under the project

— Potential Transmission of 17TWh of additional electricity every year

— Possibility of several millions of people to have access to electricity and better electricity service in a short term

— creation of 600 jobs (500 during the construction phase and 100 in the operation phase)

“This project will help TCN to operationalize its “Transmission Expansion Plan”, through the construction of additional Transmission Lines and Substations across nine states in the northern part of the country – Niger, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi and Nasarawa,” said the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning at the grant agreement signing ceremony.

Xavier Muron, the AFD country director in Nigeria, highlighted the importance of such a project as a technical enabler for the integration into the grid of the expected solar farms in the North-west part of the country. He noted that poor transmission network has been a significant bottleneck in many countries for the achievement of mix diversification.

According to the Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, “France is committed to helping Nigeria achieve its commitments on climate change in line with the Paris agreement and she welcomes this Team Europe piece of work to address it.”

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, the Head of Cooperation, Cecile TASSIN-PELZER said; “We appreciate this Team Europe collaboration with the Government of Nigeria, which is a concrete example of how the EU Global Gateway can contribute to major investments in infrastructure development.”ⓘ

About AFD: The Agence Française de Développement (AFD – French Development Agency) funds, supports and accelerates the transitions to a fairer and more sustainable world – aligned on the Sustainable Development Goals. Focusing on climate, biodiversity, peace, education, urban development, health and governance, our teams carry out more than 4,000 projects in France’s overseas departments and territories and another 115 countries. In this way, we contribute to the commitment of France and the French people to support sustainable development goals.

AFD is present in Nigeria since 2008 with its main office based in Abuja along with an additional branch in Lagos. Its main sectors of intervention in the country are energy, high education, agriculture, water supply as well as clean transportation.