By Chineme Okafor
Abuja
— The World Bank has said that Nigeria would need to connect between
500,000 to 800,000 new households to electricity sources every year
between now and 2030 to be able to achieve her targets of universal
access to electricity for its citizens.
The Bank said this
in a draft report of its environment and social systems assessment
(ESSA) of the Power Sector Recovery Program (PSRP) it is working on with
the federal government which THISDAY obtained in Abuja.
It also said
figures thrown around by the country on the number of its citizens that
have electricity meters connected to their consumption points were
unclear, being that the 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos)
have figures that are different from what the Nigerian Electricity
Regulatory Commission (NERC) has.
According to the
Bank, Nigeria's inability to provide electricity to about 80 million of
its people meant that it is the second country after India in the world
with more of her population without electricity and the first in
Sub-Saharan Africa.
"With about 80
million people lacking access to grid electricity, Nigeria has the
largest access deficit in Sub-Saharan Africa and the second largest in
the world, after India.
"Up to 83.6 per
cent of the urban population had access while only 39.1 per cent of the
rural population did. Similarly, the connection rate ranges from 26.7
per cent in the north east to 82.4 per cent in the south-south zone.
"Levels of access
to electricity also vary between the states, from close to universal
access in Lagos to about 11 per cent in Taraba. Thirteen states have
levels of access below 40 per cent. This can be compared with the
incidence of absolute poverty in each state," said the report.
It further
explained: "The government's target is to achieve 75 per cent
electrification by 2025, which would require doubling the number of
households with connections by that date. To achieve universal access to
electricity by 2030, Nigeria would need to connect between 500,000 to
800,000 households per year.
"Both grid
extension and off-grid solutions will be needed to provide quality
services to the unserved and underserved households and businesses in a
timely manner," the bank added.
On the disparity in
the metering figures, the report noted that: "Nigeria had 9.5 million
electricity customers in 2016 (NERC projection). The number of customers
per Disco varies widely, from 345,000 (Yola) to 1,750,000 (Ibadan).
"The true number of
customers is not accurately known, however, Discos' own figures for
their tariff revision submissions totaled 6.49 million customers, while
the latest household survey in 2015/16 estimates that around 19 million
households have some access to electricity," the bank said.
It stated that
electricity customers in Nigeria's power market fall into four
categories of residential; commercial; industrial; and public, adding
that residential customers accounted for about 59 per cent of
electricity consumed, while commercial consumers accounted for about 19
per cent and industrial customers accounted for about seven per cent.
"The relatively
small share of electricity consumed by industrial customers may be
related to the prevalence of own-generation by industrial businesses.
Among households, electricity access is still limited in Nigeria," it
said.
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