The African Development Bank (AfDB), today said that it was currently assisting the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to invest in modernisation of its transmission network to improve the energy sector of the country.
The AfDB President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, who disclosed this at the sidelines of the bank’s ongoing 53rd Annual Meetings in Busan, South Korea, explained that the continent’s development finance institution was also investing in the private sector of the country by providing commercial banks with significant lines of credit to drive economic development.
Adesina pointed out that the interventions were necessary because many of the African countries are currently facing the problem of insufficient foreign exchange to finance their key capital projects.
He explained further that the bank was investing in renewable energy, especially in Jigawa and many other areas of Nigeria’s economy to assist in advancing the gains of its post-recession period in the country.
“In the case of many African countries, as commodity prices were declining, the AfDB and World Bank have been assisting because many of them have a lot of fiscal and current account deficit,” Adesina said.
According to him, the bank has disbursed $600 million to help Nigeria exit recession, adding that the government acknowledged that it would have been difficult for the country to come out of the situation without the support.
He expressed the development finance institution’s delight over Nigeria’s recent recovery from recession, adding that “the issue now is the way forward.”
Adesina explained that one of the critical projects of the bank was its assistance to countries through counter technical budget support operations during difficult situations.
Earlier at a news conference, the AfDB chief had disclosed that Korea would provide $600 million grant to finance renewable energy and also deploy young engineers to Africa under its partnership.
He therefore charged governments in the continent to increase their budgetary allocations to fund infrastructure development in view of the fact that many countries are not providing enough for capital expenditures.
