Ben Agande
20 August 2008
A Memorandum of Understanding aimed at improving the country's epileptic power supply was yesterday signed between Nigeria and Germany. The highlight of the ceremony which was performed by Nigeria 's Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Maduekwe and the German Ambassador to Nigeria , Joachim Schmillien and witnessed by President Umaru Yar'Adua was the return of Siemens to the Nigerian economy as it billed to execute some of the projects.
Award of new contracts to Siemens was suspended by the Nigerian government following allegations of corruption leveled against the German company some months ago.
The agreement which is named the Nigeria-German Energy Partnership Memorandum of Understanding, empowers Germany to execute various power supply projects in different parts of Nigeria that would increase electricity generation in the country by 6,500 megawatts between now and 2020.
Under the terms of the memorandum, new power plants would be built in the country while Nigeria 's existing hydro-electricity dams would be expanded while dilapidated sub stations would be rehabilitated.
Though Nigeria's present source of power generation are mainly Thermal, Hydro and Gas based, the new agreement between Nigeria and Germany would include coal-powered plants, solar thermal plants, solar photovoltaic panels, wind power plants, waste-to-energy plants and light crude plants near refineries.
President Yar'Adua who witnessed the ceremony hailed the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel for her dedication to ensuring that the agreement between Nigeria and Germany came to fruition.
According to President Yar'Adua, the successful execution of the agreement between the two countries underscores the 'unwavering commitment to evolving those requisite deliberate, structured policy choices that will enable us rapidly rebuild, upgrade, and expand our critical infrastructure'.
According to President Yar'Adua, "from the time I discussed the issue of the Partnership with her (Merkel) in June 2007 up till this moment, she has remained steadfast in the pursuit of its actualization.
"It is evident 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.
"While assuring you of the readiness of all relevant Federal Government functionaries, not only to buy into, but also to provide the requisite impetus for the process, I wish to congratulate all who have contributed to evolving this partnership for a job well done.
"I assure you that the Nigerian government will ensure the speedy implementation of the agreed terms of the MOU," Yar'Adua said.
President Yar'Adua suggested the establishment of a joint secretariat to work out the modalities for making the partnership work
The German companies involved in the partnership are Siemens, ArGe, E.ON, EVONIK and Kfw Ipex Bank.
Some of 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 while a nationwide audit of substations and grid bottlenecks would also be carried out.
The German delegation was led by its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Hennrich Thiemann.
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