Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), has sounded an alarm over the crippling impact of unreliable electricity on businesses in Nigeria.
Speaking at the 90th birthday lecture for retired General Yakubu Gowon in Abuja, Adesina revealed that Nigeria loses about $29 billion annually due to the nation’s poor power supply.
This staggering loss, according to him, represents 5.8 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“The lack of reliable power supply is killing Nigerian industries,” Adesina stated bluntly. He explained that the high cost and unpredictability of electricity have placed an enormous burden on the country’s manufacturing sector, driving up production costs and leaving businesses struggling to survive. Load shedding, frequent blackouts, and the general unreliability of electricity have resulted in Nigerian manufacturers becoming overly reliant on costly generators and alternative energy sources, such as diesel and heavy fuel oil.
Adesina noted that according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nigerians spend approximately $14 billion annually on generators and fuel to make up for the shortfall in power supply. He cited the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), which reported that industries spent N93.1 billion on alternative energy sources in 2018 alone. “Today, no business can survive in Nigeria without generators,” he remarked.
Despite Nigeria’s abundant gas and crude oil reserves, Adesina pointed out the stark reality that 86 million Nigerians are still living without access to electricity. “Nigeria is the number one country in the world in terms of the total number of people without electricity,” he added.
In light of this, Adesina called for urgent government intervention to address the electricity crisis, emphasizing that achieving universal access to power is crucial for Nigeria’s economic growth and the vision of building a “global Nigeria.” He stressed that without reliable energy, the country’s industries would continue to falter, and its competitiveness on the global stage would be undermined.
As part of AfDB’s efforts to address this challenge, Adesina highlighted the bank’s significant investments in Nigeria’s power sector. “We have provided $200 million for the Nigeria Electrification Project, which is designed to fill the country’s electricity access gap,” he said. Additionally, the AfDB has invested $210 million in the Nigeria Transmission Project to strengthen the national power grid and enhance regional power interconnection.
Adesina also spoke about the AfDB’s broader energy strategy, particularly its Desert to Power initiative, a $20 billion program aimed at providing electricity to 250 million people across 11 Sahel countries, including northern Nigeria. The initiative is expected to create the world’s largest solar energy zone, drawing on successful projects such as the Noor Ouarzazate solar power plant in Morocco and the Ben Ban solar project in Egypt.
He revealed that the AfDB and the World Bank Group, under the leadership of Ajay Banga, have joined forces to accelerate access to electricity across Africa. “The two institutions will work together to connect 300 million Africans, including Nigerians, to electricity by 2030,” Adesina concluded.
