Nigeria Gets $1.5 Billion From US for Solar Power, ThisDay Says

Nigeria has secured a $1.5 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of the US for the development of solar power infrastructure in the country, ThisDay newspaper reported.

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(Bloomberg) — Nigeria has secured a $1.5 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of the US for the development of solar power infrastructure in the country, ThisDay newspaper reported. 

The 20-year facility will be at a concessional rate and the assets will be held by state-owned Niger Delta Power Holding Co., the Lagos-based newspaper said, citing Adam Cortese, chief executive officer of SUN Africa LLC, a US-based renewable energy company. Cortese spoke at a media briefing after meeting with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, the capital. 

Authorities in Africa’s largest economy plan to integrate solar into their energy mix as poor maintenance and insufficient investment in the transmission network have resulted in only about a third of the country’s installed capacity being dispatched by the grid daily — a fraction of what’s needed in a nation of more than 200 million people.