Will this new deal help solve the nation’s problem or is this another project that will look amazing but end up being a waste of time?

Electricity is an unavoidable prerequisite to any nation’s development. These is due to its role in the socio-economic and technological development of every nation. In Nigeria, electricity demand is far outstripping the supply which has become epileptic in nature.

The deal currently  in place with Siemens aims at strengthening Nigeria’s power supply system. It is a road agreement map which will help Nigeria’s power sector. According to report by BusinessDay Villa sources, Global Chief Executive Officer of Siemens, Joe Kaeser met with President Buhari on Monday, 22 July 2019.

This meeting proves to be the result of a previous meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel in August 2018; where both governments committed to future cooperation to support economic growth and development in Nigeria.

According to reports, Kaeser who represented Siemens have signed an implementation agreement for the Nigeria Electrification Roadmap (NER). The NER with Siemens AG is to upgrade the country’s power transmission & distribution infrastructure.

Today at the State House Pres. @MBuhari presided over Signing of Implementation Agreement for the Nigeria Electrification Roadmap(NER), a partnership btw the Nigerian & German Govts & Siemens AG of Germany, to upgrade Nigeria’s Power Transmission & Distribution Infrastructure pic.twitter.com/nmpKdOmNUa

— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) July 22, 2019

Over the years, Nigeria has signed so many deals just to bridge the electricity deficits but still no progress. Such deals includes; Agips 450-MW plant, Exxon Mobil’s 388-MW plant in Bonny, Eskom’s 388-MW plant in Enugu and so on.

WHAT HAPPENED TO OTHER DEALS?

However, the nation is still having one of the worst period when it comes to electricity supply to its citizen. These has made most businesses and households use diesel-fueled generators to supplement the electricity intermittent supply.

Even with the Nigeria power reform which was signed in 2005, the transmission networks continue to be government owned and operated. It has also remained the weakest link in the power sector supply chain.

Nigeria have a generating capacity of over 13,000 megawatts but only an average of 4,000 megawatts reliably reaches consumers.

WHAT MAKES THE SIEMENS DEAL DIFFERENT?

The AG Siemens partnership will aid the activities of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the eleven (11) DisCos (Distribution Companies) within the country. The deal will help generate 7,000 megawatts of reliable power supply by 2021 and 11,000 megawatts by 2023. The final phase of the implementation of the Nigeria Electrification Roadmap (NER) will drive generation capacity and overall grid capacity to 25,000 megawatts.

The AG Siemens deal is therefore important, as it will help resolve the challenges facing the nation. Such challenges include, power distribution, limited distribution networks, limited transmission line capacity, huge metering gap, and fall of gas supply.

According to Siemens, a workshop will be held as part of a Roadmap to solving these challenges. The Workshop which will be held in October this year will have in attendance, the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the TCN.

The big question is ” Will this new deal help solve the nation’s problem or is it just another project that will look amazing but end up being a waste of time?

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