Nigeria First (Abuja)
20 August 2008
Abuja — In furtherance of her avowed commitment to turn around the power sector, the federal government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany aimed at improving power supply in the country.
The agreement, singed on behalf of Nigeria by the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Abdul Rindap, and on behalf of Germany by the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Joachim Schmillien at the State House in Abuja, on August 19 is to facilitate the supply of 6,500 megawatts of electricity between now and 2020 by Germany. This is to be achieved through the execution of various power supply projects, expansion of existing dams, rehabilitation of substations and construction of new power plants in different parts of the country.
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua said the agreement was entered into as a culmination of the diligence and dedication demonstrated by members of the two delegations that negotiated the partnership.
He noted that the MoU signals unwavering commitment towards evolving those requisite deliberately structured policy choices that will enable the country to rapidly rebuild, upgrade, and expand her critical infrastructure. He stated that the original objective of the partnership, which is to address Nigeria's energy challenge while guaranteeing Germany short and long term energy security, has been properly addressed.
The President, who assured that Nigerian government would ensure speedy implementation of the agreed terms of the MoU, suggested the establishment of a joint secretariat to work out modalities for operations of the partnership.
The honorary Adviser to the President on Energy, Dr Rilwan Lukman, earlier in his remarks said the partnership provided basis of cooperation that satisfied the interests of the two countries.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Hennrich Thiemann led the German delegation. The German companies involved in the partnership are Siemens, ArGe, E.ON, EVONIK and Kfw Ipex Bank.
The projects are located in Ikot Abasi (Akwa Ibom), Kainji (Niger), Kaduna, Obudu (Cross River), Kano, Maiduguri, Egbin (Lagos), Sapele (Delta), and Afam (Rivers).
Others are in Sokoto, Katsina and Gombe States. This is in addition to a nationwide audit of substations and grid bottlenecks.
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