Businesses in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, according to the World Bank are losing approximately $29 billion every year due to unreliable power.
“Businesses in Nigeria lose about $29bn annually because of unreliable electricity. Nigerian utilities get paid for only half of the electricity they receive,” the World Bank said in a presentation at a virtual meeting with Nigerian journalists.
Distribution power companies lose money on the electricity they receive as part of it is lost to poor distribution infrastructure and power theft, while another part is lost to customers not paying their bills, the Bretton Wood institution added.
“Six in 10 of registered customers are not metered, and their electricity bills are not transparent and clear. This contributes to resistance to pay electricity bills,” stated the Bank’s Power Sector Recovery Programme fact sheet.
Despite being a major producer of oil and gas, Nigeria is the country with the largest energy access deficit in the world.
A total of 85 million Nigerians do not have access to grid electricity, which means that 43 percent of the population is without access to the grid.
According to the 2020 World Bank Ease of Doing Business report, Nigeria ranks 171 out of 190 countries in getting electricity and electricity access is seen as one of the major constraints for the private sector.
The World Bank has approved a $500 million support the government of Nigeria to improve the country’s electricity distribution sector.
The project is expected to help boost electricity access by improving the performance of the Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) through a large-scale metering program desired by Nigerians for a long time.
