If emerging external funding green light from the World Bank is anything to go by, chances are that Nigeria’s power sector crisis may be resolved in record time considering the excitement so far expressed by the bank.
Otherwise, the bank has endorsed steps to be taken before the presentation of Nigeria’s request for $1bn for consideration by the executive board of the institution.
Speaking in Abuja via a statement, the World Bank said it was committed to supporting the Federal Government’s Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP), saying “The World Bank is committed to assisting the Federal Government with programme implementation, working closely with the PSRP Implementation Monitoring Team, which reports directly to the Vice President of Nigeria”.
“The World Bank will continue the preparation of the proposed $1bn performance-based loan to support the programme. The Federal Government and the World Bank Group agreed on the necessary next steps to present the PBL to the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors for their consideration.”
Responding on the new funding window from the World Bank, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said, “This administration is fully committed to implementing the PSRP. We believe that the PSRP is the clearest pathway to reform the power sector and its success is contingent on a strict adherence to performance and programme implementation monitoring, which I will continue to give a priority from my office.
“It (PSRP) is an intervention that we have been working on in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, and the World Bank.”
“We are very confident that this laudable and vital programme will make a fundamental difference in the economy in particular and the country in general,” the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, was quoted to have said.
Business Hilights also gathered that the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, expressed government’s resolve to make sure that steady power is once experienced nationwide.
