Nigeria has overtaken the Republic of Congo as the country with less access to electricity globally according to the World Bank.
WBG Practice Manager, West and Central Africa Energy, Ashish Khanna disclosed this in his presentation during a virtual engagement with power reporters on Wednesday to explain the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP).
According to him, Nigeria now has 85 million people without access to electricity, the largest number in an absolute term in the world ahead of Congo.
“Nigeria now has 25% more unelectrified people than the 2nd most unelectrified country (DRC – in absolute terms). For the bottom, 40% of the population (mostly rural), access to grid electricity is even lower at about 31% nationwide. Regionally, only south-west has access of over 50% (except Kano).
“While there have been a growth of 1.1 percent yearly since 2010 on electricity access in the country, It has not kept pace with population growth of 3% yearly,” he added.
He however pointed out that the power sector is operating inefficiently with unreliable supply because of high losses and lack of payment discipline.
“The lack of electricity is causing businesses heavily in Nigeria to the tune of about $29 billion annually, while Nigerians pay for only a half of electricity they receive,” he stressed