- Nigeria needs at least ₦3 trillion to tackle the infrastructure deficit
- The low budgetary allocations, low taxes, and lack of investments to blame
- The report noted the need for financial investments to develop infrastructure
The global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has stated in its report on the Nigerian infrastructure market that, Nigeria requires at least ₦3 trillion to close the infrastructure gap in the country. The electricity sector alongside other key sectors suffered from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as poor government funding. The report states, “low government funding capacity and customer affordability has been weakened further by the Coronavirus pandemic and low oil prices.”
According to the report, despite investments in economic infrastructure such as power, Nigeria still has not achieved success within the sector. The report noted that “Citizens who have access to the grid electricity face regular power cuts. Of the around 90 million Nigerians reported to have no access to electricity, 17 million live in urban areas, while 73 million live in rural communities, which means that a majority of the non-electrified population live in off-grid areas where the provision of grid supply is not economic because of the high cost of constructing transmission infrastructure”.
The report noted the need for private sector participation in the development of the power sector. The report further, acknowledged the need for diversification of the energy sources. Diversification into renewables will help in access to financing from green bonds.