The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Olu Verheijen, says Nigeria’s electricity tariff will increase within months.
Bloomberg quoted Verheijen, as giving this hint at the Africa Heads of State Energy Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where Nigeria presented a $32 billion plan to expand electricity connections by 2030.
She, however, said that the planned increase needed to be balanced by subsidies for less-affluent electricity users.
Thefrontrank reports that the Federal Government had in April. 2024 approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A classification.
According to the presidential aide, Nigeria’s power prices need to rise by about two-thirds (66 percent) for many customers to reflect the actual cost of supplying electricity.
Verheijen also stressed that higher electricity tariffs must be balanced with subsidies for less-affluent consumers, as they are necessary to fund maintenance, improve reliability, and attract private investors into power generation and transmission.
The presidential aide said Nigeria is trying to resolve the transition to a cost-efficient but cost-reflective tariff to attract private investors.
“One of the key challenges we’re looking to resolve over the next few months is transitioning to a cost-efficient but cost-reflective tariff.
“So the sector generates revenue required to attract private capital, while also protecting the poor and vulnerable,” Verheijen said.
She also highlighted that Nigeria’s power industry requires significant investment to meet its development goals.
The aide said out of the country’s 14 gigawatts of installed power, only eight gigawatts can be transmitted nationwide, while just four or five gigawatts can be directly delivered to homes and businesses.
