The federal executive council has approved the payment of €15.21 million and N1.708 billion as counterpart funding for the Presidential Power Initiative, a power upgrade and modernization programme between the Nigerian government and Siemens with the support of the German government.
According to Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, budget and national planning, the amount to be paid represents 15 percent of the total contract sum.
The other 85 percent will be provided by Euler Hermes Group and backed by the German government on concessionary terms.
In May, President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the release of funds for the first phase of the Siemens electricity deal.
In 2019, Nigeria signed a power project deal with Siemens AG, Germany-based firm, to deliver 7,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the national grid by 2021.
With this approval, the phase one of the PPI, which includes projects in transmission, distribution, metering, simulation and training, will formally kick-off.
The project is to be implemented in three phases to be completed by 2025.
