EU to spend N50billion on Nigerian power sector (Read)

EU to spend N50billion on Nigerian power sector – The European Union (EU) will invest €150 million in Nigerian power – This was revealed by Michael Arrion the ambassador and head of EU delegation – The EU was also to be used mainly for training young engineers.

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Michel Arrion, the ambassador and head of EU Delegation to Nigeria, has revealed that the EU will spend €150 million (N50 billion) on development of the power sector in Nigeria.

He said this while speaking yesterday, November 2 at the fifth Edition of the EU-Nigeria Business Forum (EUNIBF) pre-event briefing in Lagos.

Arrion revealed that the grant would be used mainly for training young engineers and funding some technical aspects of the power sector.

He also revealed that the EU is collaborating with the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) to inject young engineers into the sector.

Explaining the need for the investment, Arrion said that the Nigerian energy sector was an important aspect of the economy, saying that nothing would work well if the sector was not adequately funded.

He said: “The EU is already financing a transmission project in Katsina State and we have spent over €5 million, about N1.6 billion, on it.”

The business forum, according to the ambassador was focused on creating opportunities for EU and Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to create their businesses through the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN).

“We want to identify opportunities in the textile value chain and proffer options for accessing long term finance for the critical power sector in Nigeria.

“The Fifth EUNIBF has been designed to discuss business opportunities and address bottlenecks to investments, particularly in the power sector.

“We will focus on diversification of the economy through SMEs,” he said.

Filippo Amato the counselor, head of trade and economics section of EU, said the EU had granted over €750 million to Nigeria between 2008 and 2013.

However, due to the recent fall in oil prices, the trade between Nigeria and the declined by 26.7 per cent to €29billion in 2015.

“Nigerian exports to EU declined by 35 per cent while imports declined by seven per cent over the period. Unfortunately, about 97 per cent of exports to the EU are oil and gas,” he said.

The fifth EUNBF is set up to reverse this trend and aims to strengthen the EU-Nigeria business relations through identification of opportunities in the global textile value chain.

It was also to expose Nigerian SMEs to opportunities in the EU market through the platform of the EEN and explore the financing options available for funding of the power sector and diversifying the energy mix in the country.

The investment is coming at a good time as the chief executive officer of Frontier oil limited, Mr Thomas Dada has said the Nigerian power sector may collapse soon if nothing is done to address the huge debts power generation companies are owing gas producers and suppliers in the country.

Watch this video on the current state of Nigeria-EU relations.

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