Lagos Seeks $10bn Private Funds for Electricity Supply

By Adedapo Adesanya

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has disclosed that his administration intends to raise as much as $10 billion in private investment to boost electricity supply to nearly five million households by 2032.

Speaking in an interview, he said this was part of plans to improve electricity in the state, which receives about 25 per cent of 5,000 megawatts of the national grid.

This will also wean the state that largely depends on fragmented off-grid power sources.

“We’ve done an extensive power roadmap in energy for Lagos, and we have an idea of what our requirements will be for the next 10 years,” Mr Sanwo-Olu said.

“We’re trying to grow our power requirement, and based on the energy needs, it will be about 10,000 to 12,000 megawatts of power. So, it could be an investment opportunity of up to like $10 billion. So, we’re going to put that in front of investors,” he said.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said his government is also partnering with the World Bank and USAID to provide off-grid solutions to drive renewable energy use in the state.

He said the state plans to generate more than 1GW of solar photovoltaic in seven years, which will help it electrify 1.6 million households by 2030.

President Bola Tinubu, in June, signed the Electricity Act, marking a significant update to the 2005 Electricity and Power Sector Reform Act in Nigeria.

Originally enacted in July 2022 during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the new legislation aims to stimulate private sector investments in the country’s power sector and break the monopoly in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution on a national level.

Nigeria, according to the World Bank, has the largest energy access deficit, with available data as of 2021 showing that 85 million Nigerians of the country’s estimated 206 million population are without access to grid-connected electricity.

As of 31 December 2022, the generating segment of the country’s electricity market comprised 29 operational generating plants with a combined installed capacity of 13,014MW and an average operational capacity of 4,523MW – down 29 per cent from 6,371.9MW in 2019.