Nigeria welcomes China's interests in power sector

Nigeria's Vice President Atiku Abubakar welcomed China's willingness to invest in the country's under-performing power sector. Chinese firm North China Power Corporation has expressed interests in a power project in the northern Nigeria.
The Mambilla power project, estimated to cost 6 bn naira ($ 44.8 mm), is expected to boost electricity supplies to residents of Africa's most populous country. Receiving a delegation from the Chinese firm here, Abubakar said the deal, when completed, will facilitate the transmission and distribution of electricity in the country. He therefore urged officials of the company to open discussions with Nigerian power officials to facilitate the deal.

Abubakar said the government is worried that the state-run electricity company NEPA has been unable to meet the demands of the people. The company's performance has been so bad for so long, with hours-long shutdowns occurring everywhere daily and many areas experiencing power cuts for weeks.
President Olusegun Obasanjo last year ordered NEPA to strengthen its system and double power output to around 4,000 MW by the end of this year. The government has also sent a bill to parliament to break up the company into power generation, transmission and distribution.