Nigerias Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed says the Federal Government has secured a $3bn loan from the World Bank.
According to the Finance Minister, the loan is to be used for reforming the nation’s power sector.
Mrs Ahmed who announced the approval of the loan at a news conference to wrap up the World Bank/IMF annual meetings in Washington DC explains that the loan is expected to improve power supply in the country.
She said the loan would be disbursed in four tranches of $750m each beginning from April 2020.
The loan, according to her would cover the funding gap as well as the current tariff which investors in the sector had described as very low compared to what is obtainable in other countries.
This loan according to news sources is part of the Power Sector Recovery Plan set to address shortfalls in revenues to power generation and investments in the distribution network systems.
The funding gap referenced is the difference between what customers pay and what the industry regulator, NERC allows the distribution companies to charge.
The gap is said to have affected the levels of remittance from distribution companies upstream.
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