Nigeria has the highest number of people living without electricity globally – Akinwunmi Adesina

The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has disclosed that Nigeria has the highest population of people living without electricity globally.

Adeshina made this known during the 90th birthday celebration of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon.

He revealed that approximately 86 million Nigerians lack access to electricity, positioning the country as the global leader in this regard.

Adeshina further emphasized that the lack of a reliable power supply is crippling businesses and industries nationwide.

“It has been estimated by the IMF that Nigeria loses about $29 billion annually or 5.6% of its GDP due to lack of reliable power supply. The report also indicates that Nigeria spends $14 billion per year on generators and fuel.  

“The lack of electricity is killing Nigerian industries. Today, no business can survive in Nigeria without generators. Consequently, the abnormal has become normal.  

“Nigeria has gas and crude oil in abundance, yet 86 million people live daily without electricity. Today, Nigeria is the number one country in the world in terms of the total number of people without electricity,” Adesina said. 

Plans to Power the Continent 

Adeshina also said AfDB is investing heavily in the electricity sector of Nigeria, and by extension, Africa as a whole.

He mentioned that the bank is in partnership with the World Bank to reach 300 million in electricity by the end of 2030 through robust funding and investment.

According to him, AfDB has invested over $200 million in grid transmission to help strengthen the national grid against incessant collapse.

“To support the implementation of Nigeria’s power sector recovery program, the bank provides Nigeria with $200 million for the Nigerian electrification project which is designed to fill the country’s electricity access gap. 

“ We have invested $210 million in the Nigeria transmission project to strengthen the grid -power evacuation and regional interconnection.

“The President of the World Bank and I made a decision in April that the two banks will connect 300 million Africans, including Nigeria to electricity by 2030. That’s what is called the Mission 300. The largest such effort in the world,“ he added.  

What you should know 

Nairametrics previously reported that Nigeria as well as other African countries are set to be beneficiaries of a $90 billion electricity fund backed by the from the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

• The fund is part of the plan from the global financial institution to provide electricity to 300 million African population by the year 2023.
• This initiative, part of the Mission 300 program, aims to assess and support projects, helping them secure funding if they meet the program’s criteria.
• Nigeria, an integral part of Mission 300, will also be a major beneficiary of the project through the Nigeria Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES project).
• According to the World Bank, the project will benefit over 17.5 million Nigerians, or 20% of the country’s currently unserved population, while replacing over 250,000 polluting and expensive diesel generators.