Electricity: Edo targets $10bn investment from investors

Edo state government says it is targeting an additional $10 billion in domestic and foreign investment as a result of improved power supply.

The state had already attracted $2 billion in investment, mostly in the agricultural sector, to create multiplier effects, including enhancing food production, supplying raw materials to industries, and creating additional employment opportunities.

In a statement on Monday, Osasumwen Arigbe-Osula, senior special assistant to the governor on electricity, said the Godwin Obaseki-led administration had taken bold steps to boost electricity in the state.

Arigbe-Osula was reacting to the state’s nomination as the Best State Government at the forthcoming Nigeria Power Sector Awards. The power sector awards will hold on Wednesday at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.

Reeling out power sector reforms under Obaseki, Arigbe-Osula said, “On April 4, 2017, Edo State Government (EDSG) executed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the Ossiomo Power and Infrastructure Company for at least 5MW of power. On March 9, 2018, EDSG applied to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for an Eligible Customer License. 

“In November 2018, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC approved the EDSG application and declared 7 EDSG locations as Eligible Customers. The Ministry of Energy and Electricity was created in 2019 to execute the “Electrify Edo” project.

“Testing and certification of the Injection Substation at the Secretariat Complex, Sapele Road, and the 11KV network connecting EDSG offices by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) were completed in July 2020.

“The first power to the injection substation at the secretariat complex, Sapele road was achieved on October 8, 2020. Twenty-four hours of uninterrupted power supply is being provided to crucial EDSG facilities and utilities i.e., government administrative buildings, health care facilities, waterworks, schools, courthouses, etc., as well as Ologbo, the host community of the Ossiomo power plant.

“A 200km Street-lighting programme covering the three Senatorial districts of Edo State commenced in April 2021. As of October 2022, 50km (40km in Benin and 10km in Auchi completed).

“The Edo state Electric Power Sector Reform Bill was passed in September 2022, creating two statutory bodies — a regulatory commission to create a framework for a state electricity market and an electrification agency — to implement the state electrification fund in unserved and underserved areas.”

Arigbe-Osula said those policies and others would culminate in Edo emerging as the first state in Nigeria to experience 24 hours power supply.

He added that “the initiatives constitute needed catalyst for rapid industrialisation and improved security”.

“They have the capacity to attract $1 billion in foreign direct investment, create 200,000 direct and indirect jobs, and open new revenue sources, especially following the dwindling of allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC,” he added.

The Nigeria Power Sector Awards will celebrate a few individuals for their immense contributions and achievements in the sector, including a posthumous award to late Joseph Oyeyani Makoju, former chief executive officer of the defunct National Electric Power Authority, NEPA.

Others include former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Godwin Emefiele, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Abubakar Aliyu, minister of power, among others.