Nigeria is in negotiations with China’s Export-Import Bank for a $2 billion loan to fund the construction of a new “super grid” aimed at addressing the nation’s chronic power shortages.
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this on Monday during the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja. He said the project is a major component of the government’s plan to decentralise power generation and attract back large industrial users who abandoned the national grid due to its instability.
“It’s part of plans to decentralise power generation in Nigeria and get the heavy commercial users that left the power grid because of its unreliability to return,” Adelabu explained.
The proposed transmission infrastructure will connect Nigeria’s eastern and western regions — where most of the nation’s industrial consumers are based — and is expected to enhance efficiency and reliability in electricity supply.
Adelabu noted that the Federal Executive Council has already approved financing for the project.
He further stated that ongoing reforms, including recent tariff adjustments for urban consumers, have boosted industry revenues by 70 percent in 2024, with projections showing a 41 percent rise to ₦2.4 trillion ($1.6 billion) by the end of 2025.
Nigeria’s national grid has suffered repeated collapses over the years, often linked to limited generation capacity, weak transmission infrastructure, and technical failures. The new super grid, according to Adelabu, will be a critical step toward a more stable and sustainable electricity network.
