Canada-based Nigerian disc jockey, Obianuju Catherine Udeh aka DJ Switch has reacted to the World Bank’s disclosure that Nigeria has the highest percentage of the population without access to electricity globally.
The country overtook the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
World Bank’s Practice Manager, West and Central Africa Energy, Ashish Khanna stated this during the presentation of the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) factsheet during the World Bank’s virtual meeting with journalists on Thursday.
Khanna also disclosed that the World Bank has aided the nation’s power sector with $1.25 billion in two years.
The World Bank official lamented that the country’s power sector has not kept up with demand or provides reliable supply to existing customers
“Between June 2020 and February 2021, the World Bank Board approved US$1.25 billion financing to support the Government in its efforts to reset the power sector. World Bank’s Power Sector Recovery Operation and Distribution Sector Recovery Programme are designed to support PSRP implementation.
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“Nigeria has the largest number of people without access to electricity in the world: every one in 10 people without access to electricity now reside in Nigeria. Power sector has not been able to keep up with demand or provide reliable supply to existing customers. Only 51 percent of installed capacity is available for generation.
“An average Nigerian consumes four times less energy than her counterpart in a typical lower middle-income country. Businesses in Nigeria lose about US$29 billion annually because of unreliable electricity,’’ Khanna stated.
Reacting, DJ Switch wrote:
Nigeria has won again!👏🏾 We've finally beat Congo to become the country with the worst electricity supply in the world. Congratulations Nigeria 🥳
— Dj Switch (@dj_switchaholic) April 23, 2021